The Hunger Games: The Sea Aflame
by Harry Truman Wilson
Summary: After his victory in the Games, he became a slave. And his father, who had given everything to save him in the games, left him to die. But now, both he and his estranged parent have a chance to reclaim what they've lost...by protecting the Girl on Fire. Middle of Hunger Games to end of Catching Fire. T for language and violence though all harsh words' vowels are stared out.
1. Part 1: Chapter 1

The Hunger Games – The Sea Aflame

Thanks for checking out my story! I hope you enjoy it!

One, I have Odesta (Of course) but I want there to be a story too, so I tried to focus on Finnick parental relations and friendly relations as much as (if not more than) his romantic. Sorry. Chapter 8 has some good stuff if you can make it that far, or if you just want to skip there.

Two, I tried to follow the book more than the movie, but some things I had to take (Johanna for instance.) This story, however, tells of a richer, happier Panem (District Four's), very different from Katniss's. I hope you enjoy. Give it a chance, review, and follow if your interested!

Thanks again!

I do not own the Hunger Games. All rights to Suzanne Collins.

* * *

William listens to the waves, the gentle lapping of the water on the edge of the canoe. The waters of the Sea of Mead are salty and strong, and abundant with aquatic life. As there are probably a hundred other boats in the area, but somehow, he and his son feel like they are alone on the sea. He sits in the back of the boat, with his pole unmoving in the water. The fishing hasn't been all that good, but he always enjoys spending time with his young son, Finnick, who is clearly quite bored. Even at that young age, he is already handsome, with dirty blond hair and seemingly perfect facial features. He's bobbing his pole in the water, and the moment it appears like anything might have grabbed hold of the hook, he jerks the pole, inevitably losing any fish and probably his bait. Eventually, Finnick gives up, throws his pole down and crosses his arms.

"Oh Finnick, what's wrong?" William says, setting his pole down as well.

"I never catch anything!" Finnick grunts. He looks very angrily at the pole and then continues to pout.

"Finnick…relax. I haven't caught that much either."

"You've caught ten fish!"

"No…more like…five…maybe." William says, pulling up his net to see they've got about fifteen fish, not all that good a haul for the Sea of Mead, but not making his son feel any better. He reels in Finnick's pole and puts a new worm on the hook, "Finnick, how old are you, eight? All your teachers at the academy don't talk about anything but how good of a student you are! Let's see you ingenuity. Figure out how to catch some fish…" William says. Finnick glares at his father, then looks at the poll for a while. He then drops it, and pulls a spear out of the boat. He takes a handful of bait and drops it in the water, then holds up the spear. Something splashes near him and he thrusts the spear with incredible speed. Then he hauls up his prize, a large snapper.

"See! I knew you could do it!" William says, applauding his son, who is grinning and holding up the fish, "You're my little champion!" William tickles the boy, then Finnick hugs his father.

"I'm going to win the Hunger Games for you! When I'm all grown up, I'm going to be your champion!" Finnick says. William feels pained as he hears this, but smiles and straightens Finnick's shirt. Before he can respond, he hears a voice calling their names. William turns and sees her, the most beautiful woman he'd ever known, probably the most beautiful woman in the world. With long blond hair, full, luscious lips, soft, sea-green eyes, and a smile that could melt away any feelings of anxiety, that was his wife Iliana; the only woman he really ever loved. He bright calls for her boys ring out wonderfully over the ocean water, then those calls turn to cries, yells of desperation. William is suddenly before the justice building, and he sees his wife, lifted into the air, held by a noose. William is pushing through the crowd, but he can't reach her, she's too far, and then, Finnick screams, calling for his mother are the only sound he can hear. And then, William opens his eyes.

William, feeling sick and terrible, lifts his upper body up and slowly he becomes aware of his surroundings. First, one of his servants, Mica, is touching his arm, concern visible on her face. She's one of about six servants who clean and maintain his large home, and by William's favorite. She also is from Area Seven of District Four, the same area his wife was from, which made her harshly accented voice often quite soothing to his ears. Once he waves her away, he takes in the rest of his bedroom, which is filled with pictures of his son, Finnick, his wife, Iliana, his parents, and himself. He is in a king bed with a canopy held up by wooden tridents. The bed is covered by numerous pillows, luxury, fancy ones which Finnick used to jump on when he was just a boy. Willam grabs a large white one and feels its fine silk and feather insides. This kind of rich silk is stuff the children of the ruling city of Panem, the Capitol, get. Except that children of the Capitol don't have to fight to the death in a yearly gladiatorial match, like his son did. William gets up slowly and goes to the window. Mica leaves the room with another pat on the back; at this moment, she isn't enough to get the nightmares about his wife and son away. Nothing really is.

William eventually comes downstairs and gets a cup of coffee. As he feels the liquid filling his stomach and making him more alive and alert, he just watches the ocean beyond his home's windows, ignoring the television in the room which really should be on. Since the Hunger Games, that yearly gladiatorial match, are on, William is supposed to be watching them, not working, so he takes it slow, just relaxing and allowing Mica to start on breakfast. Just then, William sees a familiar face approaching the home on the beach from the neighboring Victor's Village, where the winner of the gladiatorial games got to live.

"Ron Stafford!" William says with a smile as the young winner of the 66th Hunger Games approaches him. Ron is 27, with slightly tan skin and slanted eyes, a long, tough chin and sharp cheeks, dark black hair, and small, pursed lips; he is handsome. Not as handsome as his son Finnick, but handsome nonetheless. In Ron's hand is a bucket full of fish.

"Mr. Odair, good to see you." Ron says, setting it down in front of the house, "I come bearing gifts. Caught them on an all-night fishing trip yesterday," William whistles to another servant, who comes out of the door and takes the fish away.

"Come in, Ron, get some lemonade. And for the last time, you aren't a little kid playing with Finnick anymore. William is fine."

"It just doesn't feel right, Mr. Odair," Ron responds, going into the house. William leads him to a table and bids him sit down, then takes his seat across from him.

"You stopped watching the Hunger Games too I see," Ron says, noticing the off TV.

"Both tributes from Four killed before the top 8 again. What's that now, four years in a row?" William says, shaking his head.

"I think the problem's Jarrock. I'm not sure he even cares anymore. You know they took his name off the plaque in the Capitol? Everyone outside of Four thinks he's dead," Ron says, discussing the old District Four tribute who was a teacher at the _Tribute Academy_ and often a mentor of tributes. For whatever reason, Jarrock had much less difficultly watching the tributes he trained and assisted through the games die, which made him hated in the district, but that hatred didn't seem to bother him either.

"He might as well be. He's nearly 67, isn't he? I remember when he won the games, let me tell you, it takes a lot to shock old Mags." William says, recalling how Jarrock won by yanking on a fishing pole and ambushing the last remaining tribute as he was hauled to the beach like a fish. Both men laugh in response, then William sighs.

"How's Annie doing Ron?" William says, bringing up another District Four Victor. This was their most recent victor, and she was a little more unstable than the others, though no one who survives the Hunger Games was really stable.

"She misses Finnick. She just spent the whole day sobbing, even as Mags fed her porridge."

"Poor girl."

"Yeah…" Ron says, shaking his head.

"Her games were some of the most dramatic, that I'll give them. Exploding fireflies, tracker jackers, jabberjays, and then the sudden flood of water… Cheap tactics to entertain a stupid crowd!" William says, mocking the response of Claudius Templesmith, the well-known host of the Hunger Games. Even he was sickened by the event that year. Ron smiles, then shakes his head.

"All the Hunger Games are gruesome. But that was beyond reason," Ron says. That was the truth of the Hunger Games; they were a meaninglessly violent battle the Capitol forced on the twelve Districts of Panem. However, the Capitol made sure that everyone pretends it's a fantastic and amazing spectacle, in fact, the greatest part of living in Panem, and worse, being from District Four, a very wealthy district, most people of the District actually believed them. In this wealthy District, Ron, Finnick, even Jarrok had been what is known as a Career, a child trained to fight in the games from a young age. As William is lost in his thoughts, a door bell sounds through the room.

"I'll get it!" William yells to his servants, going quickly to the door and opening it to reveal Mags, the eighty year old Victor, bent over, leaning heavily on a cane, and smiling widely. Her white hair is pooled on her shoulders, and her smile is nearly toothless, but William remembers when she was a looker, getting nearly any man, District Four or Capitol, she wanted. He puts his arm out for her to steady herself on.

"Mags, what a pleasure to see you. What brings you to my humble home?" William asks. Mags replies quietly, something which would be indecipherable if William hadn't been listening to her for years.

"I wanted to see Finnick's father for day. I was tired sitting alone at home and Annie is finally asleep."

"Well, it's always a pleasure when you visit, Mags. Come have a drink." William says, taking the woman into his living room. Mags, instinctively, goes to an armchair as a servant brings two lemonades.

"Did you see what happened Mags?" The woman shakes her head sadly in response.

"Bad luck. Porick was strong, but no match for Thresh."

"Finnick won't be happy."

"I think Librae will be sadder. She'd been working with Liana for almost two years now."

"Tough...the 74th hunger games, and still only 7 winners."

"It's amazing we had that…" Ron says.

"Finnick and you earned it. Not like me and Jarrock. We just got lucky," Mags says, looking to the sea and sipping the lemonade slowly. Her words hang in the air, and all three just remained quiet, drinking the luxury drink and listening to the waves. This goes on probably an hour before the fish breakfast is ready, and the three have a nice, meal, trading mostly subtleties and bad jokes. After his second plate, Ron stands and wipes his hands.

"Well, I have some gardening to do. And I've got to finish it before the sun sets." Mags picks herself up too.

"Yes, I'll have to check my poles. See if I caught anything."

"Alright. I'll give Finnick a call, and see how he's doing. Though, knowing his promiscuity, it may be some time before he can get back to me," William mutters. Ron remains silent as Mags laughs heartily, then both leave. William waves, and then goes back into his home, which suddenly reminds him of his painful past, watching Finnick survive and kill in the 65th Hunger Games.

In truth, William didn't actually have that much to complain about. He wasn't like so many of the other parents of tributes in and around District Four, and all the Districts of the nation of Panem. His son was alive, a Victor. In the games, twenty-four tributes had to compete, and there could only ever be one Victor. Finnick, his boy, had been that one in twenty-four. But it hadn't been cheap, monetarily or emotionally. In addition to paying the large tuition costs of sending his son to _Tribute Academy, _where he'd been trained for the games from age six, he'd also shouldered much of the burden during the games, sending his son a number of gifts for exorbitant amounts.

In District Four, as William suspected occurred in One and Two, the wealthiest and strongest children were trained at the small school in the capital of the District, _The Academy for the Advancement of the Tributes of District Four, _or, more lovingly known as _Tribute Academy_. As for during the games, whether patrons of both the Capitol and the Districts had the opportunity to sponsor tributes by sending them gifts, food, supplies, even weapons as William found out. He had dumped nearly eight million dollars into getting his son whatever he needed. There were other sponsors, of course, but what William did was by far the most one sponsor had ever paid for a games. Finnick had survived, though, and that made it worth it. This wasn't the wonderful end of the story however; one year later, his and Finnick's worlds had been shattered, as, his wife had been executed as a traitor. The thought sickens William and he pulls himself from the past and decides he's going to go to work despite the illegality.

Luckily, there is plenty to do, as William is the manager of three fleets of fishing vessels, a pearl production company, and finally a hotel chain on ship-wrecker bay. While those in the Districts not involved in the Hunger Games weren't allowed to leave their Districts, even the poorest citizens of the Capitol could see any part of Panem they wished. This excluded District Thirteen of course, which was destroyed after the great rebellion 74 years ago, but any of the other 12 districts were open to visits. However, very few capital residents wanted to see District Nine, Ten, Eleven, or Twelve, instead, most capital residents went to the great textile factories of Eight, the majestic stone quarries of Two, the rich luxury shops of One, and the sea ports of Four. And someone had to maintain and provide residence for those visitors when they arrived.

The hotels William owns are enormous buildings, big blue and green figures against the coast. As he is going over some of the particulars of one of the smaller hotels still under construction, he finds standing in front of the main entrance a strange man in a bright purple suit with bright purple hair to match it. The man also has golden lines along the sides of his head and golden eyelashes. He blinks those golden eyelashes a few times in the summer sun, then looks back to William, who nods slightly.

"Hello…"

"William Odair? Scipio Mellark! Good to meet you!" he says, flashing a silly smile. His pure white teeth and obnoxious hair mark him as a man of the Capitol; there is no need to hear his accent, which makes him sound as ridiculous as he looks.

"The pleasure is all mine…" William says, trying to keep from laughing at the man, "Is there some reason you've called on me in particular? I'm sure many of these hotel rooms will satisfy your…"

"Nope, nope, I decided I was going to meet Finnick Odair's family. Everyone can't help but talk about the family of victors, and let me tell you, the Odair family is the most famous. A man nearly as rich as President Snow, allowing his son to volunteer in the games. Fantastic. Now, tell me about this wonderful hotel you are building!" Scipio says, going up an octave on the last word. William deals with Capital visitors regularly at the hotel, but Scipio's accent is really strong, and he has to take a moment before responding.

"I…uh…this is a ten story canoe tower, shaped like the boat and with an elevator, and fully stocked kitchens and villas for those who want a more immersive experience in Four. The other tower already built is a full service one with chefs and servants who wait on guests hand and foot…" William says, starting to go to another tower. Scipio pulls him back and points him toward the sea.

"Tell me, is it possible to go out on a boat ride?"

"Of course. I'll get a boat cab ready…"

"No, no, no, you surely own a boat yourself, Mr. Odair. Come, treat me personally, I insist."

"Ahem…okay…" William says, a little thrown off the abruptness of this Capitol guest. He goes into the hall of his tower and uses the telephone there to call for his personal boat. After several more minutes of meaningless chit chat about the hotels with Scipio, through which William feels he is talking to a rather high official, the boat arrives. It isn't anything like one of the great fishing or netting barges which operated all along District Four's coast, but it is the largest vehicle William could legally own, and it is completely his. Frankly, the boat's big enough for William; it had two floors, and was armed with a stocked refrigerator and full kitchen. Theoretically, he could live on the boat for several days, however, the Capitol probably wouldn't appreciate him living out of their grasp on the sea. The dark sea green paint on the vessel let it almost blend in with the waves, while also given it a subtle but gorgeous appearance.

"Ah, excellent, come, come let us go out and experience the wonders on the Pacific Sea, shall we?" Scipio says, grabbing William by the hand somewhat forcefully and dragging him to his boat. William at that moment notices two peacekeepers he doesn't know. Most of these men in dreary grey suits were quite respectful toward William, not attempting to do anything which could threaten an invitation to the large festivals of District Four and the rich seafood dishes served during these events. However, these men seemed about at interested in seafood as William imagined a fish would be. For a moment, William thinks they are going to execute him on his boat, and tries to get the attention of some of his lieutenants at the hotel.

"Don't worry, Mr. Odair. Your life is not at risk. I just want to talk. Besides, Finnick has done everything we asked him. You don't have anything to worry about. Not yet anyway…" Scipio says, boarding William's boat with the peacekeepers. They dismiss William's crew, then with guidance from its owner, are able to launch the boat and let it float a small distant from shore. William notices the sun starting to dip into the horizon and remains cautious as Scipio takes a seat in one of the fancy leather chairs and looks back at the coast of District Four, lighting up in the twilight.

"Fantastic. Just amazing. I can't believe how beautiful this Districts is. Even District One is really quite ugly, up through the mountains with factories dotting the hills. District Seven, Ten, and Eleven are on the coast, but they are nothing like this."

"I get the impression you've been through a lot of the districts," William carefully says, sitting down next to Scipio. The peacekeepers stay to attention behind them, making William quite uncomfortable, but he knows he can't do anything, and tries his best to ignore them.

"Oh, quite a few indeed. I've tried to meet each and every victor personally. You know, District Twelve is the most disgusting of the Districts, and the winner from there, Haymitch Abernathy, I think, is the most disgusting man I've ever meet. Not like you all in District Four."

"I'm sure. Is there some reason you wanted some distance from my friends and guards to talk to me?"

"Ah not afraid to tackle the elephant in the room, I like that Odair. Tell me, how have you enjoyed this year's Hunger Games?" Scipio asks. William looks down, knowing that by not watching the games all day, he's been breaking the law. Most peacekeepers know how he'd much rather be doing work and leave him alone, but technically, all citizens of Panem have to stop and watch the games at least part of the day.

"I…they've been alright."

"Alright? They've been wonderful! Just splendid! Come, take a look at this, replay!" He waves to a peacekeeper who sets a small black circular machine on the ground in front of the two. After pressing a few buttons, it projects a floating image of a girl running. The crazy fire girl of District Twelve, as William remembers her. She's screaming something, the name of a flower maybe.

"What is this…"

"Wait, wait, it's just getting good…" He says, pointing as the girl, who is apparently named Katniss based on the word on the screen, bursting through a mass of brush and finding a small, sickly dark skinned girl, Rue as the screen says, trapped in a net. Katniss frees her, but then the small girl is suddenly hit with a spear through her heart. Katniss turns around and fires an arrow into the boy who threw the spear, and he falls to the ground. William turns away, not ever handling gore very well.

"No, no, surely this is worth watching!" Scipio says, laughing at the brutality. That was what really made William sick, how much the Capitol enjoyed watching these sad district kids kill each other with nothing but glee. William looks back, and sees that Katniss is not moving on to kill another enemy, but instead holding Rue, caressing her. Then, most amazingly, when Rue finally dies and the cannon fires, Katniss doesn't leave her. She goes to a nearby pond, gets masses of wildflowers and grasses, and makes Rue a bed, making it look less like the Hunger Games and more like a funeral.

"This is…" William starts, but Katniss kisses her fingers and holds them in the air. William moves to give this ancient signal of unity back, when he remember where he is and feigns wiping his mouth.

"That's one upstart little girl, isn't it."

"You aren't kidding…" Scipio says, nodding to one of his peacekeepers who takes the machine away, "Makes for a truly wonderful show. The reason why I'm here, is to make sure that it remains just that, a show."

"Of course…" William says. Scipio holds his hand out then smiles, a dark smile which makes William's stomach curl up into a ball.

"District Four has tendencies. You are rich, you are strong, and you are far away. Unlike One and Two, District Four is famously disgruntled with how the Capitol manages you. Rich and rebellious is not a good mix, William." The word causes a pang in his heart. Rebellious.

"No, we aren't rebellious. We serve the Capitol happily. We'll increase our construction and fishing efforts, raise more support…"

"Stop. Don't worry, Mr. Odair. I promised you your life is not at risk, and it isn't. But you must understand, District Four's loyalty is…sometimes a concern for the Capitol."

"No, never…"

"Let me make myself clear, Mr. Odair. Katniss will die in these games. And no matter what she does, it should be remembered that she is nothing but a foolish upstart, and not a martyr. When she does die, I expect you to make sure there this District remains nothing but loyal." Scipio stands up and directs the boat back toward shore, "Thank you for that short trip. I do so appreciate when those from the Districts are so…accommodating." Scipio shakes William's hand, a wide, very scripted smile on his face, then exits the boat with his peacekeepers. William watches him go, feeling his heart pounding in his chest and quite dizzy. Scipio was right, District Four was rebellious, and now, it was William's job to bring it back under control. William had studied a great deal of the history of Panem, and the countries which preceded it. Every rebellion, from the ancient American Civil War to the Rebellion of Panem, was started by a rich upper class leading the rest of the country to revolt. The Capitol knew, and rightly so, that District Four could easily be that rebellious, rich, upper class. And if Katniss's act was enough to send an official out to make sure this District remained under control, the situation had to be getting bad. Rebellion is the last thing William wants to think about. In fact, William wants absolutely nothing with any rebellious plot. The last time rebellion was mentioned in his home; death followed.

William returns to his house rather tense, knowing the others at his work will cover for him as he leaves early. When William gets home, he sits on his porch watching the sea until late at night, at which time he goes straight to bed, and lies there, feeling his hopelessness rob him of sleep. Even Mica's soothing songs and pats of support aren't sufficient to calm him down. He rolls over constantly, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"How," William mutters after about two hours, "…Mica…how can I stop the District from rebelling? I'm not in control of District Four. How can I stop the people from revolting because of that girl? If she dies, she is going to become a martyr, there is no question."

"You won't be able to think clearly about any of this, if you don't get some sleep…" Mica says, touching his hair. She her accented speech makes him a little calmer, but not much. Area Seven, her place of birth, was the poorest of the seven Areas, or subsections, of District Four, though their poverty was paradise compared to the other Districts, at least, this was the impression William got from the many Capitol residents who came to his hotels. William finally gives up trying to sleep and goes to take a shower. As he washes quietly in that, another symbol of luxury, William bangs his head against the wall in frustration. In fact, he barely notices his doing it until Mica knocks on the door to see if he's alright.

"I'm…I'm alive, for now…" William says, trying to run over his options. He can't make a public announcement, that will be too staged, and the people would just rebel against him too. He can't just ignore the games, then the rebellion will start for sure. And he couldn't turn his allies and friends into his own army of peacekeepers. That would be taking power from the Capitol, and beside it would end in bloodshed and rebellion anyway. In fact, if Katniss died, District Four would surely collapse into chaos, no matter what he did.

"If she dies…Scipio didn't say anything about if she lives…" William murmurs, then returns to his bed, and sleeps soundly, with purpose on his mind. Tomorrow, he will go to the justice building, and sign himself up as a sponsor, and put his vast wealth into protecting Katniss, and by extension, District Four.


	2. Part 1: Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Managing Sponsors

Finnick leans forward on the Capitol bar, holding a glass of brandy in his hand. He looks at the strong, straight drink, then downs as much of it as he can before his stomach can't stand anymore. He remains uninterested in his surroundings, the fancy, multi-colored room around him, the large amount of drinks sitting on the shelves before him, and the slowly approaching middle-aged concerned woman.

"Finnick…" Librae says, tapping the bar and having a drink brought to her, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Librae. Leave me be…" Finnick half-yells half-belches. Finnick actually can't believe he let himself get this drunk, but there wasn't anything to do now, but be honest. Well not completely…

"I loved that damn kid Librae! And now he's dead!" Finnick screams. Most people at the bar turn and look at him, then go back to their drinks. Librae leans in and pats his arm.

"Let's get you to lie down…" Librae starts, clearly a bit concerned about her co-mentor. Finnick grabs her arm and bring her close.

"My father…that traitorous son of a b*tch, signed up as a sponsor for Katniss Everdeen."

"That fire girl who killed Liana?"

"Yeah. And guess what? He's put in nearly 10,000 dollars into these games so far."

"Jez, they don't need to tax anyone, those games pay for themselves."

"Sponsors in general are stupid. Someone shouldn't be able to buy their way out of the games. But that he would support that…girl…" Finnick says, burping again. Librae turns from Finnick's breath and waves her hand in front of her nose.

"Wait, you really are drunk…" Librae says. Finnick looks over and watches the blond-haired, blue-eyed crusty old victor from District Twelve who his father was now supporting come into the room and sit down next to Finnick.

"Haymitch Abernathy. Surprised to see this alcoholic in better condition than me…" Finnick says. Haymitch smiles at him and taps the bar table and gets a bottle of white liquor brought to him. Finnick knows that Haymitch is his friend, and has suffered a lot at the hands of the Capitol, but at the moment, Finnick is in a blind, drunken rage, and can't see anything beyond it.

"Let's fix that then, shall we," Haymitch says, pouring himself a glass. Finnick smiles widely.

"Bet you're happy right now. Two kids still alive from Twelve in the top eight. That's a big achievement," Haymitch's face slips to a frown and he shakes his head.

"Look, if this is about Liana, I'm sorry, but how many times has a District Four career pack…" Finnick, in an act he barely is conscious of, jumps to his feet and grabs Haymitch's jacket. In a flash, he has the District Twelve mentor pinned against the bar.

"What did you say to my father? What did you do to make him support you?" Finnick slurs out angrily, knowing his looks like a raging drunk. But in some respects he is. Haymitch's attitude has soured, and he is clearly much more in control than Finnick. In a slick move, Haymitch slips through Finnick's hands and then pushes him away, sending him crashing into a table and most patrons of the bar to their feet.

"What are you talking about Finnick, I haven't said a thing to the great William Odair…I didn't even know he was a sponsor!" Haymitch says, wiping himself down. Finnick starts to pick himself up slowly, but he knows the alcohol is going to make a reappearance, and remains on the ground. Librae is at his side in a moment, trying to keep him conscious.

"Finnick has clearly had too much to drink."

"My father is one of your sponsors! What did you do you son…son of…oh no…" Soon Finnick is convulsing, throwing up his drinks and dinner all over the bar floor. Finnick vision becomes dark and he probably falls into his own vomit, though he is even unsure of this. He is in and out of consciousness until he wakes up in his room in the morning. The mentor's room is like the tributes', big, spacious apartments shared by the, in general, two mentors from that District. Finnick's room is on the right. He hears Librae breathing softly on the opposite side, and sighs, remembering vaguely how she helped him. It was all his father's fault, why he looked like such a disaster yesterday. Finnick goes straight to the Capitol Phone and dials the man, and Mica, the servant Finnick knows so well, answers.

"Mr. Odair, what a pleasure that you call us."

"Put my father on the line, now!" Finnick groans, finding he is still dizzy and recovering from his hangover.

"Mr. Odair is at work."

"Of course he is…tell him to call me later," Finnick sighs and hangs up before Mica can answer. She is an excellent servant, but just that, a servant. She doesn't understand the intricacies of Finnick and his father's hate-hate relationship. How he can't stand his father, yet does so much to protect him, and how his father saved his life in the games, yet Finnick repaid him by getting his mother killed. Finnick groans in pain at the thought, then goes into the main room and finds a glass of orange juice and some pills to deal with a hangover sitting on the table. He takes the pills quickly, and sips on the orange juice until Librae comes in, showered, smelling nice, and wearing a long, beautiful orange summer dress. The woman is fantastic, and Finnick can't help but wolf whistle at her.

"Oh, so now you're a drunk and a creep," Librae says smiling, sitting down at the table with him, "How are you feeling?"

"I…sorry, I…yesterday was a mistake. An alcohol fueled mistake. But…my father is sponsoring…"

"Have you been watching the games?"

"No, not really."

"I think I know why your father's supporting District Twelve…" Librae says, turning on the TV in the room. She turns it back to day seven of the games, and it shows Katniss, the girl from District Twelve, dressing up Rue, the girl tribute from District Eleven, as if it was a funeral. The defiance toward the capitol was clear and respectable, but he'd seen this before. And it never ended well.

"So?"

"So…Katniss is showing solidarity with the other districts," Librae says in a very teaching tone. She can't help it; she's a mother of two and has been teaching at _Tribute Academy_ for nearly twenty years. But something about it rubs Finnick the wrong way.

"A lot of tributes show solidarity. Then they turn around and slaughter each other as soon as they get the chance!" Finnick says, clearly a little too loudly, as Librae puts her hands out to try and calm him down. He sighs and shakes his head.

"I'm sorry, I'm better than this. So what does her solidarity mean?"

"That Katniss is not just fighting for District Twelve. She's fighting for Eleven too, to make sure everyone remembers that we, all those who participate in the games, are all human. She's also feigning being madly in love with the other tribute from her district, but anyone who has actually been in love can see what she's doing is not real."

"Not real…" Finnick murmured. He should be able to tell, he thought loved Annie with all his heart. But he didn't want to look, he was afraid of what it might tell him about himself. Finnick pulls himself together and feels the hangover pills working. His alcoholic version, that wasn't him. Even if his flirtatious attitude was really a façade too, it was more real than angry, drunk Finnick. The man takes a deep breath, then forces a suggestive smile on his face.

"So, how good looking is this couple from Twelve right now?"

"She…uh...he's a big, handsome softie, I suppose playing a more feminine role. And she's…well, she's tough. And has a lot of spunk."

"Good, that's just how I like them," Finnick says, looking to a screen and watching her as she kisses her finger and gives an ancient sign of solidarity, "with lots of spunk."

* * *

Finnick sits back at the bar again with his arms crossed, watching the main screen in disbelief. Librae is with him, though Finnick hasn't touched alcohol since his incident the previous day. No one in the bar is moving other than a few people making bets. Everyone is watching as Katniss carefully restores Peeta to life.

"I can't believe this is real. Two victors…from the same District."

"That's a gamemaker ploy." Librae says with a sigh, "They did it in the 60th Hunger Games, a little before your time, and those poor kids were forced to fight to the death in the end. That's what their trying to do."

"But Peeta and Katniss…well, at least Peeta, is madly in love. How are the gamemakers going to deal with that?"

"They are taking a gamble that it will be a great show. And one I think they will pay for…" A high pitched voice says. Finnick turns to see a shimming purple man, purple hair, purple, suit, purple tie, purple socks. The only thing not purple is his gold tattooed face and golden eyelashes, which are so long Finnick wonders how he keeps his eyes open. He takes a seat next to them at the bar and watches as Katniss refuses to take Peeta's underwear off.

"Oh come on! Let us see something good!" A woman yells from a booth behind the three. Finnick and rolls his eyes.

"I know all about how young you like them, lady…" Finnick says into his hand. Librae laughs and the purple man shakes his head, then leans in to Finnick.

"You know, Finnick Odair, I talked to your father the other day. Told him that he had to make sure that District Four doesn't do anything that questionable in response to these games…" Finnick freezes, his heart pounding. He looks over to the man, whose grin only widens as he sees Finnick's fear, "We talked about how if Katniss dies District Four wouldn't rise up on his watch. So he made the decision to protect Katniss. Why, I couldn't have come up with a better plan myself."

"Why…are you telling me this mr…" Finnick says, not looking the man in the eye and taking on the submissive tone he uses with customers. He smiles and touches Finnick's shoulder.

"Scipio Mellark is my name. Believe it or not, I'm related to that boy up there. We're third cousins or something like that. The story is that my great-grandfather had two sons. One, joined the Capitol during the nasty First Rebellion, and he was rewarded with a prime position here. His brother, however, was not so smart, and his family…"

"Ended up in District Twelve." Finnick finishes, still maintaining his meek tone.

"Right. Sometimes, one needs to consider what the future holds, not how strong family ties are," A drink comes to Scipio and he picks it up, "Sometimes, it's better to throw your brother under a car for the sake of your children right? Sometimes, your closest family can turn out to be your enemy. But I suppose the opposite can be true as well. Anyway, I must get back to work. I'm glad I got to meet both members of the Odair family." Scipio downs the drink and leaves it at the table. Finnick looks at it then to Librae.

"He used pass tense in that last sentence. What did he mean by considering the future not your family?"

"I can answer that!" Finnick turns toward the methodical, logical voice and sees his friend, big, thick glasses, bald head, and green and brown suit common to District Three. Beetee sits down in Scipio's seat and crosses his arms.

"Beetee. What do you mean?" Finnick asks. The ashen skinned, clearly quite intelligent mentor.

"Good to see you again too Finnick. Librae, looking as beautiful as ever." Beetee says, pushing the glasses up on his face, "So, as I said, I can answer that because I got a similar warning. Us in District Three aren't quite as wealthy as you all in Four, but my distanced extended family has signed up completely for this Katniss girl. As much as I tried to convince Scipio it was to get vengeance on that District Two boy who killed Sparks, I didn't have much success."

"What did he tell you to do?"

"Remember that the future is more important than any familial sacrifice. But, Scipio hasn't modified his original threat, has he?"

"What do you mean?" Finnick asks. Beetee's mind operated on at least five different levels at once, so he often changed topics quickly, usually losing the larger, but much slower Finnick.

"Scipio threatened that the Districts can't rebel when Katniss dies. But, what does that mean exactly, if Katniss lives?" Beetee says, tapping his chin, "I'm no expert on such riddles, but really, since we are just leaders, not rulers in our districts, we don't stand much of a chance trying to bring a District rebellion under control. So, where does that leave us? With keeping Katniss alive." Finnick stares at him, trying to follow Beetee's conclusion. Eventually, something starts to click, and he turns to Librae, then Beetee.

"He wants us to keep Katniss alive?"

"I am not sure, but this is the only logical conclusion I can find at the moment. I will let you know if I discover more, but for both of our and our District's sakes, I suggest we make sure Katniss stays alive for as long as we can. I'm already directing most of the remaining money given to my tributes toward Haymitch. I suggest you do the same. Also, I believe it is Brutus who is this year managing the District Two tributes. Perhaps something limiting him would be a boon to us as well. Whatever you decide, I'll be spending most of my time with the one gamemaker I know quite well, Plutarch Heavensbee. Anything I can garner from them might be helpful as well," Beetee stands and holds out his hand.

"Good to see you Finnick. And good luck. Oh, one last thing. Did Scipio just tell you not to trust your family, but instead to trust your enemies?" Beetee asks. Finnick frowns.

"Maybe…I didn't really get it…"

"Don't concern yourself with it, I'll work on the riddle myself. You, go reconcile with Haymitch."

"Fine by me…thanks Beetee…" Finnick says, taking Beetee's hand. His head is spinning, he can barely concentrate on what Beetee was trying to suggest. Luckily, Librae understood him much better.

"Finnick, go to Haymitch, and make sure he uses your father's money. I'll go try to see how Brutus is doing. If he becomes too distracted, he may make a mistake, then his tributes may well end up dead, giving our Katniss a chance," Librae says.

"Our Katniss…" Finnick grumbles, then does a shake of his head, flicking his hair, "I'll make sure our money is with him. Katniss will feel…irresistible after I'm done. Now…" Finnick leans over and takes a sugar cube from a holder and pops it in his mouth, "I need something sweet." He chews on the cube, the flavor overwhelming his senses and making him calm. They leave the bar and go toward the mentoring center, a huge rotunda on the floor above the tribute's training center, with twelve mentor command centers equidistantly . Librae goes to the right toward the District Two room. Finnick heads straight for Haymitch's command center.

When Finnick arrives, he finds a slurring Haymitch standing over a 3-D map of the arena, slamming his hands on the sides and cursing.

"D*mmit, come on sweetheart, one kiss, one pot of broth, that's how it works, I'm not a money pit."

"Oh, is that so?" Finnick says. Haymitch looks up and then rolls his eyes.

"You here to fight me again drunkee?" Haymitch asks, returning his attention to the scene.

"I need to apologize about that day. That wasn't who I am."

"Yeah well, I suppose I'm not much to talk about being drunk, am I?" Haymitch sputters, snatching up a bottle of liquor and pushing it into Finnick's hands, "I need to stay sober for this, get that out of here." Finnick turns to take it away when Haymitch throws his hand out.

"Wait…" Haymitch grabs the bottle and takes another swig, then puts it in Finnick's hand. He smiles as Haymitch breathes deeply, fighting the alcohol.

"I'd smash it on the floor but then I'm worried you try to lick it up."

"You forget you were like me not so long ago, Odair. Some of us don't have rich fathers who can provide anything for them, including women to distract you from alcohol," Haymitch spits out. This really bothers Finnick, for multiple reasons, but he has to keep Katniss alive for the games, and instead puts the bottle down slowly and grabs Haymitch and lifts him off the ground.

"Pay attention, you're not going to get drunk again until Peeta and Katniss come home. There is a lot more riding on it than a Victory Tour and co-mentors for you, is that clear?" Haymitch looks that big man in the eyes, a hint of fear visible in his. Finnick is much stronger than him, and when Haymitch is drunk, he's about as effective as Finnick is at understanding Beetee.

"I…uh…"

"Don't throw up on me either. Go to our quarters, lay down, and go to sleep. When you awake, and are sober enough, you'll find me here," Finnick puts him back on the ground.

"Ah…er…" Haymitch makes a strange burp sigh noise, and then seems to lose consciousness. Finnick thinks Haymitch might be dead for a moment, but then the man comes to life and stumbles out of the door. Finnick shakes his head, and turns to the map of the arena, and the image focused on the tributes from District Twelve.

"Alright, Katniss Everdeen, let's see, what was Haymitch's deal, one pot of soup for one kiss? Let's see if my father's money can help you with that." Finnick says, adding his sponsors to Haymitch's list, then flipping through it until he finds the name he needs, William Odair.


	3. Part 1: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews chocolatechipcookielover.

* * *

William wipes his eyes, trying to comprehend what he just saw on his computer screen in his main office. Alarmingly, his bank account dropped one hundred thousand dollars in the last few minutes. It was a drop in the bucket out of the 3.25 million William had in there, but still concerning.

"Good grief, I know I signed up as an unlimited sponsor, but I didn't know they would take this much from me. In fact, I don't think anybody would feel comfortable draining an account that fast except…" William's face slips into a scowl and he looks up at the sky.

"Finnick. Get your hands out of my pockets!" William packs his office quickly and leaves, walking from his fishing fleet company office to the Area Two train station, District Four's main train station. It's a gorgeous old building, once something called an airport, with huge glass windows, a giant central tower, and an incredibly busy main rotunda which intra-district trains are going in and out of constantly. Being nearly 7:30, the station is even busier. All the fishing vessels are pulling into the dock to avoid sundown and masses of sailors, most part of William's fleets, are unloading cargo onto trains or leaving their vessels to return home. This makes the train station wildly packed, but William doesn't have a lot of trouble skirting through the crowd to get on his company's train. Mica is there to meet him; she is busy cleaning his personal cabin and he races past, going to the train's one telephone, usually for emergencies.

"This is enough of an emergency…" William mutters as he put in the number to the District Four Mentor Telephone. It rings a few times, then after a click a woman answers.

"Hello?"

"Librae?" William guesses.

"Oh, hello William. How are you?"

"Fine. I'd like to talk to Finnick please." There is a sigh through the receiver, then Librae clears her throat.

"Finnick is…filling in...for a friend. He's actually mentoring the two District Twelve Tributes. They're normal mentor, Haymitch, is drunk and snoring on the couch over there." William pauses, looks at the phone, and then puts it back to his ear.

"He's managing District Twelve? Well, that explains how my bank account is being emptied. But why on Earth..."

"Something about District Four's safety hanging in the balance was mentioned earlier," Librae answers. William shakes his head.

"Isn't it always…" he murmurs, "Just tell Finnick to call me back once that snoring drunk recovers." William hangs up the phone and turns on the train's TV. There, Katniss and the boy, Peeta are inside a small cave, lying with their limbs intertwined. She is crying, and the boy is looking terrible. But they are together, and its cute, much cuter than the shots they cut to of the District Two tributes, Cato and Clove, who are mostly planning on how brutally they will kill Katniss and the boy. William watches intently on the way to his home, and when he gets there, he hurries to his personal television and turns it on again. Peeta is looking worse and worse. But Katniss and Peeta appear as though they've eaten enough, and William suspects he had something to do with it as he sees the bowl of broth leaning on the side of the cave. But he also knows that the broth won't be enough; eventually, Peeta will need medicine, or he will die.

"Oh, Finnick, I can't imagine how exorbitant the cost will be …." William straightens up, and tells Mica to open a safe, "But if this is about the safety of you and the District, money is not object. Just do it fast," William says, opening and checking his bank account painfully. At that moment, the doorbell rings, and William, frustrated, goes to the door.

"Just a second…" William opens the door to reveal Annie. She is a beautiful young girl, with long light brown hair, soft green eyes, wearing a blue dress that looks gorgeous. Tears are streaming down her face, and she's shaking.

"Annie…are you alright?" William says, grabbing her arm and pulling her into his home.

"I was…hoping I could stay in Finnick's home…tonight. But the door is locked and I couldn't find my…key…" she says, clearly rather distressed. She suddenly puts her fingers in her ears and falls to her knees.

"Stop screaming…no…stop…" she yells through sobs. She's trying to quiet down the songs of jabberjays, which during her games were a combination of all the terrible things everyone in district Four had ever said about Annie. Somehow, they missed Finnick and himself, so she felt a sort of bond of trust she didn't have with many others in the District.

"Annie…we'll go right over to Finnick's. Come here…" William says, putting his hand out slowly. Somehow, Annie must see enough of Finnick in William, and she takes his hand slowly. William grabs his spare key, and goes out of the door, leading her slowly in the cool District Four summer night. They walk down the road, which is at that moment abandoned of life, with only the sound of nighttime birds and a roaring ocean. They go past three homes then turn right, and William carefully leads her up the stairs to its front door. He opens it, and finding a sprawling main room, filled with tridents, nets, other fishing gear, and a massive aquarium, which goes through several floors and is filled with the most exotic fish of every part of the District Four Sea. William leads Annie inside.

"Okay. Can I do anything else? Get you a drink, or make sure the bed covered…"

"No…thank you. Finnick…made sure it was ready for me…" she's stopped crying, but is still clearly quite fragile. She leans in and kisses his cheek, then goes up a few steps, leaving William on the first floor of Finnick's house. He sighs and leaves it, locking the door behind him.

"I doubt Finnick will be happy I came in here, even if it was for Annie…oh how the young suffer here…" William says, feeling tears coming on himself.

* * *

"Hmm…spending limit…" Finnick mutters, "That's new. One hundred thousand per sponsor. My trident costed at least four times that amount. And my father paid for that personally…" Finnick half murmurs, half spits. He hates the fact that wealthy citizens, like his father, could buy the games for their children. But there is no point in getting mad now, he is going to use his father's money to keep Katniss alive instead of him. At least, he was, until he hit a sponsor limit. Finnick types in a few commands, but it rejects any attempt to let him give his own money. He had way more than he needed from his father, the money the Capitol sent him as a Victor was pointless normally, but now that he was restricted from donating, it was completely useless. He turns back to Katniss, who is telling some long winded story about a goat to the dying boy, Peeta. The boy is desperately in need of medicine; medicine that will be outrageously expensive, and without the Odair estate behind it, it would be far too costly for Katniss' other sponsors.

"So…no more money from my father. None from me, or any other Victor. Maybe if Beetee, Haymitch, Librae, and I worked hard enough, we could get enough sponsors. But it seems like the Capitol doesn't want that." A loud ring sounds through the room, and Finnick looks up. The clock says seven, meaning Finnick has been at the mentor's station for almost the whole day. His fatigue and hunger takes him over, and he sits down, looking at the screen.

"Where's Haymitch? Probably back under from drink. He never could control himself, almost like me in the company of beautiful women!" Finnick says, smiling widely. He then notices that no one else is in the room, and obviously no one heard his flirtatious words.

"I've got to stop letting that façade take over my life." Suddenly the door opens, and Haymitch comes in.

"Ah, there you are. I was wondering what…" Finnick starts, but Haymitch slams his hand on the table and points Finnick down.

"What the heck are you doing? First you try to beat me up in the bar, then you take over my tributes for me?"

"Haymitch, there is a lot more going on here than I understand, but District Three, Four, and Twelve all depend on her success," Finnick says, pointing to Katniss's picture blown up on the screen.

"No! Not her! She's a mess! Don't make her the symbol!" Haymitch says, though it's not directed at anyone. He looks at the map, then back to Finnick.

"Fine, don't tell anyone what you know. But apparently her life just became a lot more important than ours…" Haymitch goes to his post and then draws back, "Jeez, where did all this extra money come from?" he asks, looking through the sponsor list.

"I…my father was very generous with you. As was Beetee's family. Don't forget it."

"I won't…" Haymitch says, "I won't forget that you, Beetee, and your father saved these two for me." Suddenly, there are two loud dings over the intercom systems, signifying an announcement for the games.

"This is to inform the remaining tributes that there will be a Feast tomorrow!" _A feast_, Finnick thinks, _that's why they didn't want me to get her medicine. They want Katniss to fight for it._

"D*mmit, that's sick…" Haymitch says, "Putting food out for the tributes to fight over. They are going to stop our sponsoring and make Katniss and Peeta battle with his leg all torn up. But Katniss can hunt. She doesn't need food, does she?" The announcement continues, almost directed toward Haymitch.

"Now hold on. Some of you may already be declining my invitation. But this is no ordinary feast. Each of you is in need something desperately. Each of you will find that something in a backpack, marked with your district number, at the Cornucopia at dawn. Think hard about refusing to show up. For some of you, this will be your last chance." The voice stops, and Finnick and Haymitch remain still, waiting for more. Suddenly, a soft moan of "No" comes from the computer screen.

"You're not risking your life for me," Peeta says.

"No you idiot! Let her go!" Haymitch grunts, slamming his hands on his screen again. _It's a miracle that its not broken." _Finnick thinks.

"Who said I was?" Katniss shoots back. Finnick stands up and comes close to the screen and the yelling Haymitch. Katniss and Peeta argue for some time, but Peeta seems to win, and this drives Haymitch to the point of insanity.

"No you stupid girl! If you are both going to get out alive you have to do this darling! He's going to die without you."

"Well, the boy has spunk too. Quite nice," Finnick says, bouncing his eyebrows, which sends Haymitch to dismiss him with a wave.

"Which one do you think has more spunk?" Finnick asks. Haymitch looks at him.

"Katniss. She's brave but stupid. She'd take on the entirety of Panem with a dirty syringe if she could."

"And she might one day get the chance. But for now, I say we give her the tools to keep betray Peeta and save his life," Haymitch turns to Finnick, who grins, a blank, small grin for which Odair men are known for, "What Katniss needs to do is knock Peeta out of the picture. Temporarily." Haymitch looks back at his screen and then a grin forms on his face too.

"Sleeping syrup. That shouldn't be too much, not with all your father gave. Alright, I'll give it to her when Peeta isn't looking. Thanks, Finnick," Haymitch says, his attitude clearly much more amiable.

"Of course. Now, I'm going to get some sleep. But I hear that Brutus needs to be distracted. Let's see if I can strand Cato and Clove, even just for a moment tomorrow." Finnick nods to Haymitch, then finds his way back to his room. The second he goes in, he collapses onto his bed. Librae comes in after a moment and knocks on the door sill.

"Finnick, your father called. He wanted to talk to you."

"I'll call him later…" Finnick says, drifting toward sleep even as they are talking. Soon, Finnick's vision fades, and he's half his age in a stream with his mother. She runs her fingers through his hair as he splashes in the water, but when he turns to gaze at her all he sees is her hanging from a tree. Over and over again, he plays with her, then she's hung, torturing him more and more to see the moment his life was shattered, the thing he caused when he defied the Capitol so long ago, the one death they took for his one refusal to serve as a Capitol prostitute. The death he could never overcome, the punishment, he'd always carry.

"Finnick…Finnick…" Finnick slowly slips back into consciousness, and not Librae but Beetee is there slapping the man awake. At first Finnick thinks it a monster and jumps off the bed and tries to grab the knife on his nightstand, but soon he sees that behind the large, thick glasses are the eyes of his friend.

"Slow down, fish boy. It's time for the Feast," Beetee says, unaffected by Finnick's distrust.

"What time is it?"

"Nearly 8 o clock, Central Panem Standard," Beetee smiles and opens a screen, letting large amounts of sunlight into the room.

"Good grief, why so early? No one in the Capitol will be up but the mentors and some managers."

"Didn't you see the people gathered around the City Center? It was an all-night party event," Beetee said, "This is to celebrate one of the craziest Feasts ever. School is cancelled across Panem as are most industries."

"Of course it is, they don't want anyone to miss it. They probably spent about half a million on Peeta's medicine alone."

"Well, luckily for us, Librae has done good work. Somehow, she convinced Brutus to stay up all night slaving over his tributes. I've got a plan for distracting him."

"Oh?"

"We're going to empty his sponsor money, and he won't even know it. But…you might get punched."

"I expected as much." Finnick says, touching his delicate and beautiful jaw.

"I'll explain more shortly, get dressed and meet me at the District Three mentor station." Finnick nods, then showers and puts on a dim blue shirt and trousers, and finds Beetee, typing quickly into his screen, standing over his mentor station. Finnick takes pause with Beetee's brown pants and green jacket. While his district's colors of blue and sea-green speak of gentleness and water, District Three's green and light brown suggest a much more technical and dirtier place.

"Finnick, pay attention," Beetee says, snapping Finnick back into focus, "I'm currently hooked up to Brutus's system, but in a way which he's not going to be able to trace it. What you have to do is get him out of the room. We're going to make him think somebody's broken in."

"And I get implicated…and probably hit…"

"If you want to reprogram this system and have me distract him, you're welcome to," Beetee says, pushing his glasses up on his nose. Finnick sighs, and goes out of the room, down to the next door, and after a moment, looks back.

"How will you know when I…" The door opens suddenly and Brutus, the forty year old bald, big, monstrous killer stands before Finnick. Finnick is only slightly shorter than him, but it's enough to make Brutus look indomitable, and his blood shot eyes make him look homicidal.

"What do you want Odair?"

"To…uh…congratulate you…"

"Thanks…" Brutus turns and the door closes, but Finnick throws his foot in its way.

"Wait, Brutus, let's talk for a moment. Its' not often that two members of a Career pack get to win. In fact, never before! This is a time for a celebration."

"I don't think so. If I'm not careful, Haymitch could win as well, much less if Chaff tried some trick so his little boy gets there faster. If I don't give clear instructions, they'll never make it out of the Feast."

"Oh, I'm sure District Two has the advantage here. But I do wonder…" Finnick says, trying desperately to think of something.

"Wonder what?" Brutus says, coming closer to Finnick, and nearly leaving his room. Finnick notices the sponsor screen changing rapidly and knows he has to hold Brutus there.

"What happens when it all comes to an end? Does that mean there are two Victory Tours, or just one enormous event?"

"I don't have time to think about that!"

"But you've wondered, I see it in your eyes…" Finnick says, pointing to those pulsing veiny peepers.

"I…I suppose I did wonder…how that would work…and how that would be for the post interview…and some other events…wait, I still don't have time to think about this!"

"Sure you do! Where are Lyme and Eniobaria anyway? Why are you doing all the heavy lifting?"

"District Two doesn't share responsibility. We mentor both tributes when it's our turn so that each mentor has to suffer losing at least one tribute."

"Expect this year. I bet that has them infuriated…" Brutus suddenly looks angrily at Finnick and starts walking toward him, forcing the District Four Victor back.

"What are you planning?"

"Nothing…" Finnick looks past Brutus and sees the screen is still changing.

"Are you trying to make me lose? Is this about Annie and Adrian, and the beheading in her games?"

"No, what? Where did that come from? That was District Ten's fault anyway. Your tributes just abandoned her."

"You killed my tributes when you won Odair. District Two and Four don't get along well, we never have. Jarrok and I usually come to blows when we're together. This is you trying to start a fight. Well, just because I haven't slept for 32 hours, doesn't mean I can't take you Odair!"

"I assure you, that's the last thing I want!" Finnick looks and sees, Brutus's screen has returned to normal, but Brutus is still coming, "In fact, I'm just going to leave now!" Finnick starts to run, but much to his chagrin, Brutus chases him. Finnick is faster naturally, but Brutus is at this moment pure adrenaline. As Finnick starts to push his limits following the circular hallway which is the access to all the mentor's computer system rooms, Brutus begins to catch up. Finnick comes back around to the District Three room, dives in, and locks the door behind him. Brutus bangs on the door several times and roars about tearing Finnick limb from limb. Finnick looks to Beetee, who smiles, and turns his sponsor screen toward the District Four Victor.

"I've wasted all his money on a page from a book which says to split up. Katniss will only have one to face at a time, and Brutus won't be able to send them anything else."

"Great…" Finnick says, standing against the door. Brutus slams into it again, and Finnick is thrown forward, "Any ideas on stopping the raging bull?" Beetee can't help but laugh as Brutus throws his body against the door again.


	4. Part 1: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

William can barely believe what he is seeing as he watches Katniss run back into the forest. Cato, the brutish boy from Two, runs after Thresh, the boy from Eleven who just saved Katniss's life. Their showdown would be a spectacle, with lots of bets and expectations. But William could care less. Katniss lived, and because of it, Peeta would live too. _Five left, _William thinks, counting on his fingers,_ three more before they win_. A doorbell turns his eyes from the TV, and he gets up to watch Mica open it. On the other side is the aged victor, Jarrok, tall, with thick facial hair, bad teeth, and a blue uniform which makes him look like an ancient soldier of some sea nation. In other words, he looks ridiculous.

"Jarrok…" William says, going to the door and taking his right hand. The man's other hand was nearly severed in his games, and now is a dead limb which sits unmoving on his portly belly, "How are you?"

"Been better. Here." Jarrok puts an envelope in William's hand.

"What's this?"

"It's for you and you alone."

"Ok…can I get you a drink…?" William says, turning over the envelope and opening the door wider. Jarrok comes in and puts his hat and coat on the rack.

"A cold glass of water will do," Jarrok says, going into the living room. William takes the envelope in his hand and opens it slowly. As he reads over the words, William becomes confused, and goes into the sitting room, where Jarrok is telling a lively joke to Mica.

"So then, the fish vendor says…no, I don't need to weigh your goods, these fish come with their own scales!" Mica laughs heartily at the awful joke before William gets his attention.

"What is this Jarrok?"

"It's for your eyes only!" Jarrok says, jumping and eating the paper. He looks wild and foolish as he does it, but William suddenly draws a connection between what he read and what Jarrok was doing.

"Marcia Perkins…" William murmurs. The woman was a peacekeeper, a high ranking one in District Four. And what the envelope contained were instructions stating that all Districts would be entering full lockdown mode one month after the next Victory Tour with Marcia's name on them. Marcia had given Jarrok the orders to give to William, but why?

"So…" Jarrok said, swallowing the remnants of the paper, "How are the games going? Did that Catbell, er…Katnail girl survive the feast?"

"Katniss survived it. And now, I think the Capitol is afraid of her…" William says, taking a seat next to Jarrok. He tries to draw the connections in his mind, "Is that what Scipio wanted? Us to remain passive so that when the crackdown comes, we'll be too disorganized to respond? Or...does he want...us to work with our enemies..."

"Who? What?" Jarrok says, taking a long drink of water. William looks at him and smiles.

"Mica, can you give us a moment?" The woman nods and leaves.

"I'm not comfortable talking about…" Jarrok starts, but William holds up his hand.

"All I want to do is meet her. And see if passing on her orders are all she is willing to do."

* * *

"Remember, tributes, when you are there, in the heat of the battle in the arena, you are still on television. I've been suppressing riots all my life, and in this world, where television is the main means of communication and frankly the most important tool everyone has, the way you make your kills and the way to win fights is what is going to yield you sponsors, and through that, keep you alive in the games." Marcia presses a button and Titus, the famous cannibal of District Six who went completely mad in the games appears on screen. He is battling the girl from District Four, and after Titus cuts her throat, he starts to bite into her neck and pull out tissue, causing most kids in the classroom to reel back in horror. The video pauses and Marcia steps back in front of the screen, "This…is not killing in style. This is killing in desperation, in lunacy. Not what we are trying to achieve here." Marcia turns back, flipping her short bangs. Her hair is a bright pink and flashy, like so many Capitol citizens, and her face is made up quite heavily, but not so much that William doesn't see the beauty in the woman. He had met her several times before; the most recent being at a dinner honoring the retirement of the last head peacekeeper, a man named Nerva, who had served in the position for nearly forty years. The woman seems quite peaceable and very unlike most peacekeepers as he watches her bring up footage of his son.

"Now, this…is killing with style." Marcia points to Finnick as he twirls the small lance he found the first day and cleaves the girl from Twelve then turns perfectly and strikes the boy from Six in the same move. The children in the class are in awe, and William is too, though he's seen the video a thousand times. Finnick turns toward a camera as the two fall and gives a small, blank smile. William can't help but imitate the boy; the trait is a defining factor of Odairs. Marcia turns to begin explaining, but stops when she sees William at the door.

"Well, isn't this a surprise, William Odair, the father of the boy who is the topic of so many lessons at _Tribute Academy_! My goodness!"

"Yes, it is a surprise, even to me," William says. The children in the class, all about ten years old, jump from their chairs and run to William, holding out paper for Finnick's autograph. These pleas also come with barrages of questions: what Finnick does at night, what he eats, why does he spend so much time in the capital, where does he get his great hair from. William, having dealt with this for years, takes out a stack of Finnick's autographs and gives them out, then answers the four basic questions to the crowd. He then looks to Marcia, who waves her children out.

"Class is dismissed early today. Go start warming up for afternoon weights." The children leave, some quite sad, and Marcia and William are alone.

"Hard to believe you've been teaching for ten years now," William says, following Marcia into the classroom.

"I'm hard pressed to believe it myself. I remember those first days, the kids crying in fear of a peacekeeper teaching them. But I think showmanship 101 is helpful to the tributes; I think it helped Finnick and Ron especially."

"Yeah well, my money helped their sponsor situations too," William mutters, "How does it feel, to work alongside those you taught?"

"Refreshing, to know I made a difference in someone's life," Marcia says taking a seat at her desk and writing something on a piece of paper, "Ron was my first class. I remember…he was much more abrupt with me than the others. I knew he was Hunger Games material, as terrible as it sounds. No one deserves the Hunger Games, but he…well he proved he was ready for it. Annie was the one I was really heartbroken about. She was the smartest; Finnick goofed off all the time in my class, and I was still getting used to teaching when Ron was a student. But Annie, I worked with closely, and she learned everything there was to know…her and that boy…" Marcia trails off, reminiscing about her victorious students. William smiles then takes a seat in front of her desk, reminiscing himself about his time at _Tribute Academy _more than thirty years ago.

"Marcia, might we talk somewhere private?" William asks. Marcia shakes her head.

"I don't see anyone else in here, and no one teaches a class in this room until four," William eyes the door, then looks at her.

"I'm more worried about the eyes we can't see." Marcia looks at him, then stands and closes the door to the room.

"There are no cameras allowed within a half-mile radius of _Tribute Academy_, if that's what you're implying. The Capitol fears that any footage of the academy would be leaked, which would cause far too much controversy, since all this is illegal," Marcia says, going back to her desk. William nods.

"Well then, Marcia…I got what you sent to me."

"…So Jarrok delivered it. I instructed him to do so with discretion."

"He did…that is, he made sure I was the only one to read it. But I don't know if discreet is the right word for his delivery. That's not really who Jarrok is…" William says. Marcia smiles, and William notices how her blue and white summer dress brings out her eyes. Despite her gaudy pink hair and thick makeup, she is stunningly beautiful in that moment, and the peacekeeper uniform hanging on the rack near the entrance is hard to remember. This in turn, drags him back to the past, when he first meet Iliana at the _Academy_.

"So, was something unclear? Or is this going to turn into a shakedown?"

"Actually, I just wondered, since you were so willing to speak on your orders from above, if you would give me a little information on the peacekeeper force."

"What do you mean?" Marcia asks, obviously a little thrown aback. She clearly didn't plan for William to ask about that.

"Just basic stuff, nothing to secretive. But first, tell me, why did you feel I deserved to know about the order?" Marcia looks at William, eyes the door for a moment, then shuffles her papers around again.

"Because…District Four is my home. I may have been born in the Capitol, but from the moment I joined the peacekeepers, I was sent to District Four. I eat with these people, live with them, enjoy their company, and now I teach their children how to survive the terror of the Hunger Games. I am one of you, whether you accept me or not, I will do a lot to keep District Four safe," Marcia says. _How much is a lot? _William thinks, but then moves away from the question.

"You speak awfully negatively of the games."

"My family never liked them. While my father and his brother were from the Capitol, my mother and her siblings were from District One. And I've watched two of my cousins die in the arena."

"A half Capitol girl who doesn't like the Hunger Games. But why did you have the orders given to me in particular?"

"I know a bit about your past, Mr. Odair. You are a leading man in the District, but once, you planned to be more than that. Once, you planned to make District Four free…" Marcia says, leaning back. This actually surprises William, and he stops that line of questioning and moves to another.

"About your peacekeepers, who are they loyal to? You, their commanding officer? President Snow?"

"If anything, the Capitol," Marcia says, nodding, "However, they are also immensely loyal to me. Most have known nothing but me as their leader for years, and probably wouldn't ask questions if I ordered them to do something controversial."

"Like turn against the residents of District Four."

"They…they would…I…I'm not sure what they would do. When the crackdown comes, I'll order my men to stay their hands, but…"

"I'm actually more concerned with the opposite," William says, smiling slightly. Marcia leans forward and frowns.

"Is this some Capitol test? A former rebel out to clear the peacekeeper ranks of dissent before the new round of soldiers comes."

"Far from it…" William says, standing from the desk, "This is me, seeing where your loyalty is…how deep it is for the District you claim to love, and whose side you will take, when the Capitol's crackdown comes."

"I…" Marcia struggles, trying to read William, see whether he's trustworthy. Or perhaps, still trustworthy. William shrugs and starts to go.

"You don't have to answer now, but consider where your loyalty is…" William says, turning to leave. Marcia grabs his arm, and pulls him back.

"My men will follow my orders to the letter, notwithstanding what Snow, or anyone in the Capitol, says or does…" She stands to attention and looks at William, "If you would trust me, I will help you, sir."

"Get your lesson plans together and come to work as normal tomorrow. I'll be in contact shortly. Thank you…for making the right choice Marcia," William pats her back and turns, "Dismissed."

"Aye sir…" William hears as he walks out of the room.

* * *

"One more!" Mags yells, though it sounds like a badly meshed word, and William has to make a guess about her intention. Apparently Ron agrees, as he slams on the table in support.

"Katniss and Peeta might live! With Finch dead, all that's left is Cato!" Ron says.

"Don't get your hopes up, Cato killed Thresh in that messy rainstorm and stole Thresh's sword! And now he's got that terrible body armor," Jarrok says, rubbing his hands. All three victors sit around William's table for a small dinner party, watching the screen as night sets in the games. It is still light in Four, and though most ships have come into dock, the majority of the district's citizens are likely trying to enjoy the summer sun before it fades into autumn, and probably not watching the games. But William doesn't exactly have a lot of choice; there's too much riding on Katniss' living.

"Three left, one from Two and two from Twelve. I don't think that's ever happened before. Strange days we live in," Mags says, taking a long sip of lemonade. Mica comes into the dining room with a tray covered in fish and shellfish, but only Jarrok goes for the food.

"Oh my! Fresh salmon, now this is a treat! Oh, and well-seasoned too!" Jarrok says, smelling the fish deeply and then putting a bit in his mouth.

"Hmm…could use just a tad bit more salt. But it is excellent, and of course, your delivery is wonderful as always Mica!" Jarrok adds, taking another bite.

"Jarrok, good lord, can you turn your attention away from food for just a moment?" Ron says, staring down the man. Mags pats Ron's hand.

"That's how he keeps it together. Food is his talent, remember?" Mags says. Ron sighs, then scoops some clam chowder into a bowl.

"I think he could have come up with a better talent," Ron mutters.

"Like making weapons for the Capitol? Or serving as their top whore," William says, not turning from the screen.

"What…?" Ron stutters, clearly struck by something William said. However, William doesn't understand the problem.

"I was just trying to say that maybe your choice of making weapons or Finnick's of sleeping through most of the Capitol women may not have been better. Sorry if I offended."

"Ahem…no, no, it was funny, wasn't it Mags...Mags?" Ron says, looking to her, but she is glued to the tv screen. Jarrok and Mica had also stopped moving and were watching as well, and when William and Ron turn their attention to the screen, they can immediately see why. Cato is running from monsters, one of the Capitol's biological creations known as muttations. During the first district rebellion that caused the games, the Capitol corrupted animals into evil, deadly monsters to use against the rebel forces. And they hadn't stop corrupting them since. These particular creatures are half-human, half-wolf creatures, with long sharp teeth, big ugly snouts, claws which could rip through most everything. But as William watches the monsters stand on their hind legs and roar, he could see that they were very human in appearance. In fact, their hair and eyes looks to be almost like…

"The dead tributes!" Mags grunts. William looks at the others in horror.

"There's Liana…and that one's Porick. That's disgusting," William says, pushing his plate of food away.

"Peeta's not going to make it! He can't outrun those monsters!" Ron says jumping to his feet. William turns from the screen and looks down.

"I…we can't do anything but hope. No mentor could save their tributes now."

"This is the self-reliant stage. From this point forward, it's up to the tributes to keep their own lives," Jarrok says, with what is apparently a bit too much nonchalance for Ron.

"D*mmit Jarrok, aren't you even worried?"

"No, and we can learn from him," Mags says, taking Ron's hand, "Sit down child." Ron moves slowly back into his chair and leans back, trying to breath.

"Jarrok is right, from this point forward it's up to the tributes themselves. We've done all we can," William agrees. Jarrok, however, is quite puzzled by Ron's response.

"Why do you even care Ron?" Jarrok says, rubbing his hands, "I assume Mags and William have some scheme involving that poor girl, and I've put my money on her and will probably make a couple thousand shortly. Why in the world do you care?" William suddenly notices this as well. He had spoken to Mags about his decision to support Katniss and she agreed, and as expected, appears to be supporting District Twelve. Jarrok was apparently trying to make a quick buck, though he doesn't really need it. What was Ron's angle?

"Um…"

"Well? Did you make a bet too? Or are you part of their scheme?"

"Not that I know of. Mags?" William says, prompting a shrug from the aged woman. All three stare at Ron, who suddenly becomes quite defensive.

"I only wanted to help the District, I assure you. I'm on your side, all of your sides!"

"Ron…" Mags takes his hand again, which seems to calm him down, "What's the matter?"

"…Is this room probed?" Ron asks, looking at William. The man smiles in response.

"No, there are no Capitol ears in here. Finnick gave me a device from his District Three friend, uh…Bertred, or something like that. Anyway, it's a scanner which checks the room for cameras, no matter how small. Mica." William waves over the woman, who opens the tool. Its shaped like a rod with three legs that hold it up. It opens on its top and creates a laser wave. It expands out into the room and then comes back to the device head, which then beeps and turns green.

"Nothing here."

"Whoa! Well, I have a few choice words for the Capitol now that I know I'm not being monitored. Those Capitol sons of b*tches who messed up those tributes are mother…"

"Jarrok!" Mags says, slapping his arm. She looks at Ron, who sighs.

"I spoke to that District Three friend, Beetee, yesterday…" he starts, "And apparently they are helping protect Katniss because it concerns the safety of the District."

"I see…" William said, leaning back, "So they must have threatened Finnick too."

"Look I don't exactly understand…Beetee was speaking in code, and he isn't all that clear in normal speech. He did ask me to make sure we were doing everything we could to help from Four. But since the richest man I know signed up as a sponsor, there wasn't a lot more I could do. I made my father sign up as well, but…his money isn't quite as long as yours…Beetee did ask me to submit a new trident for review in the Capitol, and apparently he has a way to get it to Finnick…" Ron says, nodding to William.

"Well, looks like we're defiantly on the same side then, Ron. A Capitol man came to me and told me that I had to prevent revolution in Distict Four when Katniss dies. To help stop me from having to do something disgusting, I decided to help her live. Apparently, Beetee and Finnick came to the same conclusion."

"Holy cow! When were you going to tell us?" Jarrok yells. Mags holds out a hand for him to calm down, then nods to William.

"It was his secret. He could only be expected to tell it when he was ready."

"Thank you Mags."

"Well, it doesn't matter now. At this point, Katnis and Peeta are going to live, or die, and that's it," Jarrok says, returning to his salmon. William sighs.

"Let's hope it's the former, but those mutts are going to go for Peeta. And that won't be pretty," William says. He's watching the screen again. Cato has clambered up to a high rock. The rock is actually part of the cliff which stands right over Peeta's and Katniss's cave. Cato turns, ready to have a final showdown with them, but while the mutations bark and scream at him, they stop and don't attack him. In fact, they become completely silent as the camera switches to Peeta and Katniss holding and kissing each other, and having a rather beautiful moment.

"Of course, we have to see more of the romance…" Ron says, rolling his eyes.

"I doubt we'll see more action tonight. Cato isn't going to move, lest he provoke the creatures. And I don't think Peeta or Katniss even heard they were there. The showdown will be tomorrow," Jarrok says, clearly knowledge of how the Game Makers operate.

"Then, another day of hoping," William said, finally taking a taste of the now cold clam chowder.

"What more can we do…" Mags says, clearly encapsulated by Peeta's and Katniss's last long kiss.


	5. Part 1: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Thanks to bigdog666, chocolatechipcookielover, and meksters for the follows. Hope you all continue to comment and enjoy! Also, this chapter has some "adult themes" but I don't go into great detail.

* * *

Finnick can't sleep. He rolls around, then gets up and turns on the TV again. It's still Katinss and Peeta sleeping together, while Cato is finally drifting off, holding his sword close. Katniss could easily finish him, if someone could just tell her. But obviously, sending a parachute would alert Cato to their position. Besides that wasn't his job anymore. But he still couldn't stop thinking about it as he paced the room. His mind was racing, in fact it hadn't been racing like this since he was watching Annie in her games.

"Annie…" He whispers, remembering the woman he truly loved, the only one he ever wanted to be with. But she was far from the only one he'd ever had. His "talent," the thing he spends his days on after he'd won the games, was heartbreaking, that is, sleeping his way through most of the Capitol. He didn't choose this talent; he hated what he did. It was the Capitol, and more importantly, President Snow, who told him to love all those women. Despite his hatred of that sexually wild life, he makes it worthwhile. For one thing, as long as he acts like he enjoys those women's company, the three people he cares about most, Annie, Mags, and his father, remain safe. What's more, he had gained quite a list of dark secrets from his work. Secrets he plans to use one day to implode the Capitol and take vengeance on the city which had stolen so much from him. So, for now, he doesn't mind that he is in some strange woman's house, who now awakes because of the absence of the man.

"Finnick…my beloved! Why have you left the bed? Come back and comfort this old lady." The gaudy Capitol woman, who looks terrible with her smudged makeup and poorly aligned dark yellow wig, comes out of her room.

"I'm sorry, my lady, I had only wished for a moment of air because of the excitement of this year's games."

"Oh they are quite exciting aren't they? Two tributes from Twelve and one from Two. That's not something you see every day," she says in her thick Capitol accent, which makes her only more disgusting to the man.

"No it's not…" Finnick stifles his nausea, waltzes sensually over to the woman and takes her into his arms, "I do so enjoy things that aren't seen every day. Tell me…what else might you have seen?"

"Oh, very sneaky, Finnick, but I made my rule clear, one night, one secret. You'll have to wait for the morning."

"I'm quivering with anticipation," Finnick says alluringly, moving his lips in for a kiss. He's more horrified with the woman in truth, but just keeps thinking about one image. The thing he saw eight years ago, when he was 15. That was the first, and only time, he refused to sleep with one of these whores. That sight which so haunted his dreams: his mother, hanging by her neck over a crowd of mourning people, and his father, cold and hard, who seemed so distant, so unaffected, so hateful. Finnick releases from the kiss and lets the woman drag him toward the bed.

"I'm doing this for you, old man. One day, you'll know…" he murmurs to himself as she takes off his shirt.

* * *

Finnick stands in the shower, trying to wash makeup, grudge, and an overall dirty feeling off himself. He hates the feeling in the morning after one of the clients, and this was his fourth during this Capitol visit. But this most recent one was worth it. He got the secret he wanted. The secret about Scipio Mellark's past.

"Finnick! Hurry up!" Librae yells. Finnick looks at the door and rolls his eyes.

"If you knew what I've been through, you would leave me in peace," Finnick mutters, though its only a moment before Beetee bursts through the door and points outside.

"Katniss and Peeta are awake! It's all going to end today! Get out here and come see our good work," Finnick sighs and turns off the shower. He grabs a towel, and drying himself off, follows Beetee into the main room. Librae, who is, surprisingly enough, still squeamish with nakedness, pushes Finnick back toward his room.

"When I said hurry up, I didn't mean…Get some clothes on man!"

"Why Librae?" Finnick strikes a pose which makes Librae turn red, "Is this distracting?"

"Very! At least put some drawers on!" Librae grunts. Beetee, who has in the past admitted he's too old to be squeamish, taps Finnick shoulder.

"Finnick… perhaps you should put something else on…" Finnick turns around and jumps, at the sight of another mentor. In front of him is Johanna Mason from District Seven. She was beautiful, short brown, spiky hair, strong, curvy body, and hazel brown eyes Finnick could get lost in if he didn't already love Annie. As Finnick pulls the towel down over his business, Johanna looks him over, then waves him away.

"Why did you bring me here Beetee? Is that supposed to impress me?" Johanna says. Finnick knows that behind those soft eyes and flustered tone is a deadly killer; when she won her Hunger Games, she did so by convincing everyone she was weak.

"Maybe you should have warned me we had guests Beetee…" Finnick says, also noticing that the male victor from District Seven, Blight, is sitting on the apartment's main couch, smiling at the encounter. Blight is much older than Johanna, and has a goatee and mustache which make him hard to forget, though Finnick can't remember saying more than "hello" to him in the past.

"I think I'll go get something more proper on…" Finnick mutters. However, Beetee has already turned his attention to the screen and he snaps at Finnick.

"No time, Finnick, look." Beetee points to the room's projected television, which is showing Peeta and Katniss agreeing to hunt Cato. Just as they get within about a hundred yards of the Cornicopia, the weapon and supply filled center of the arena, the wolf mutations start to attack Cato again, leading the boy right to the two.

"Oh god, this is it…" Johanna says, "Everything we did, I guess we're going to find out it's worth."

"Wait…did…"

"Johanna and Blight meet Scipio and heard the same threat. I assure you, they are in the same predicament we are…" Beetee says, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah, stuck here with naked Finnick to watch Peeta's last moments," Librae says, trying to focus on the screen. Finnick smiles at her, then remembers that he an important secret about Scipio to tell Beetee.

"Beetee…I need to talk to you. Alone." Beetee looks at him, then a roar turns them back to the screen.

"Wait…" Johanna says, looking hard at the screen, "That monster looks like…Oh sh*t, that's Rodrick! And look Blight, that's Sha! Did they mutant up their bodies or something?"

"Looks like it…" Beetee says, shaking his head, "Those are surely Fiber's eyes…"

"Mutations. The worst kind. The undead form…" Librae says, no doubt seeing Porick and Liana. Finnick sees them too, and wonders what the other mentors are feeling, seeing these children of their home not only killed, but turned into such monsters. Finnick sympathizes with the drug abusing and crazed District Six victors for a moment before Beetee starts murmuring intelligently to himself.

"Of course…they've done this before. Remember in the 68th games, they brought back those kids as birds. And in the 64th, the ones before yours, Finnick…there was a giant gelatinous creature which was formed from the career tributes at its core. I wonder what the Capitol's resurrection capabilities are."

"Only you could think about that, at a time like this…" Finnick mutters. Cato has met up with Katniss and Peeta, and all three are running toward the Cornicopia. It's top is several feet off the ground, Katniss is able to scale it relatively quickly, but Peeta is much slower, and after he climbs up the large horn shaped building maybe halfway one of the monsters bits his leg.

"Oh no!" Blight yells. Johanna rolls her eyes.

"What did you expect? Peeta was inches from death before all this. I doubt he's going to live more than a few more seconds," Johanna retorts.

"Don't give up hope yet…" Librae says. Katniss grabs hold of Peeta and keeps him up while he is able to knife the creature, sending it to the ground. She shoots another, this one the boy from District Eleven, and he shakes slightly, then goes still.

"Well, they can be killed," Beetee notes.

"They aren't the problem! Cato is!" Librae yells. Just as Katniss pulls Peeta up, Cato grabs hold of him and keeps him in a deadly headlock. He's strangling the boy, and it seems hopeless, despite Katniss being trained on him with an arrow.

"Oh! He's going to kill him!" Blight groans, almost acting like his heart was stopping. Finnick thinks of how similar Jarrok and Blight are and wonders if he will be like that when he is old. And has watched another twenty of his tributes die. Even with the rotation structure the District Four victors had developed, Finnick will still have to mentor many more tributes. Much less all the sleeping around he'll have to do before then. By the time Finnick focuses back on the screen, Peeta has marked the Cato's hand, and Katniss sends and arrow through it. Peeta slams himself into Cato, and the two start to fall. Katniss jumps out and grabs Peeta, pulling him back. Cato falls to the ground and the mutations attack him. It's clear to everyone in the room that Cato is finished.

"They did it!" Librae screams, then covers her mouth. But the air of victory pervades the room. The mentors pat each others' backs and Finnick opens a bottle of brandy, to which glasses are clinked. Blight and Johanna down theirs quickly, as Finnick does. Librae is a little slower, and Beetee actually sets his down before he even sips the drink.

"Oh my…" Beetee murmurs. Finnick, and the celebrating group, look back to the screen and see Cato fighting desperately to stay alive. The mutations are actually having trouble with him; each attack seems to end with one of them badly wounded. With a particularly well timed flourish, Cato kills the one Johanna had earlier called Sha.

"Surely not?" Librae mumbles.

"District Two is the Capitol's pet. They don't know when to give up…" Johanna says with a hint of anger. Clearly she's remembering her games, when she nearly had to hack the District Two girl to pieces to finally win. Most agreed that girl should have given up and accepted death.

"How long do you think he'll last?" Beetee says, moving close to the screen, "He's got advanced, mixed mesh, lightweight dytanium armor. That's nothing to shake a stick at, in fact, many of the wolf-mutts teeth will no doubt begin to wear down before they can properly kill him."

"This is the big finish. It could be hours," Librae says. And it is. After about three hours, Cato finally yields, but the monsters aren't so kind as to kill him quickly, and instead gnaw on him for another twenty minutes before Finnick has to get away from the television. He goes up to the roof, having drank a good amount, and stumbles over to the garden, watching as the sun sets in the distance. He thinks of how much higher it is in District Four at this time, and all that he cares about back in his home.

"Even in this terrible place, the sunset is beautiful…" Beetee says. Finnick turns and watches the short, ashen skinned, hairy man come and stand next to him, watching the sun go down.

"Do you remember…" Finnick starts, running his fingers through his hair, "The first time we met. It was here."

"Of course I do. I was out here, showing Optic how to find the square for a forcefield. Didn't do much good, seeing as your arena was an enormous farm, with murderous livestock and the occasional jungle tree, but I try and show all my tributes that trick," Beetee says, looking up at Finnick. They had some connection, friends maybe. Perhaps it was because Beetee always had complex schemes to help his tributes, and he usually asked for Finnick's help. Few other mentors, especially Career ones, gave much time to that plump old man, but Beetee was by far the smarted person Finnick had ever meet, and for all three times Finnick had mentored his tributes now, he told them to ally with Beetee's boy. So far, only Ron had been successful.

"I was so afraid, I couldn't think, I was too small, too weak, and you found me, shivering and crying, me, the beautiful Finnick Odair, curled up and desperate," Finnick says in a tone somewhere between humorous and disgusted. Beetee smiles.

"I asked why you were so afraid. Really a stupid question, but I couldn't think what else to say. You told me you didn't stand a chance against the brutes from One and Two. They had just told you that you couldn't be part of the career pack because you were too young. And then I pointed out the force field's weak spots to you, and said that even the strongest thing in existence today, the Capitol itself, has kinks in its armor."

"And that gave me confidence. And I worked with Optics…and the other careers once they let me back in. And we got to the final eight before that guy from Six ambushed us with a sledgehammer." Beetee's face slips into a frown and he crosses his arms.

"That was one of the worst kills I've seen. But I was glad that even if he couldn't win, that you could," Beetee says, patting Finnick's back.

"If you hadn't told me about the kinks, I would have given up. Even Mags couldn't convince me I could win. But you did. And now I'm here," Finnick holds out his hand, "Ally?"

"Always," Beetee responds, taking his hand. They look back as the sun sets, and the wind picks up, ringing a nearby chime and preventing their being heard, "Now, what was it that you found?"

"I…treated a client to get this information. She was quite forthcoming about Scipio Mellark. She said that he is always going to see Plutarch Heavensbee, but Plutarch is a game maker and Scipio is a minister in the peacekeeper corps. They should have no business together."

"Very true. And very strange. What would he have to do with Plutarch?"

"Well, she said she did some investigation herself, and found that Scipio doesn't exist before the year 60 ADD."

"Strange…he just appeared after the 60th Hunger Games?"

"Well, I learned from another client some time ago there was a governmental purge around that time. Apparently Scipio was suggested by a woman named Cressida, who is a lieutenant of, all people, Plutarch Heavensbee."

"This sounds like a rather large and complex plot."

"You aren't kidding. My head hurts just thinking about it."

"Perhaps…if Plutarch is in the middle of this….maybe…"

"What?"

"Plutarch is a high official; there is precedent of gamemakers becoming president."

"You think he's making a ploy at president?"

"Which may be why he's trying to ferment distrust of Snow among Three and Four, two rather wealthy districts. But why is District Seven involved? I've have to consider this. No point in trying to solve it now. Let's get some sleep, Finnick. Come up to the District Three quarters in the morning. Wiress will want to cook something for you." Beetee turns and starts toward the elevator. Finnick follows him, and they ride down in silence. The elevator stops at level four, and Finnick nods to Beetee.

"Good night Beetee, see you tomorrow."

"Good night…ally," Beetee says as the elevator closes.


	6. Part 1: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When Ron awakes, it's to the gentle sunlight and rolling waves beyond the windows of his home. He sits up and looks out. Those deep blue waters remind him of his old life, that life that ended nearly ten years ago, when he lost the exhibition Hunger Games to the then fourteen year old Finnick.

That was how tributes were picked in District Four, a pretend version of the real, terrible event. Ron had been seventeen at the time of his first exhibition games, the biggest, toughest guy in his class and the one above his; a shoo in for tribute that year. In the exhibition games, there had only been one real other contender, an eighteen year old boy who was now a high level ship captain. But there had also been a young, sneaky, and incredible boy, who not only defeated his opponents in the exhibition games, including the eighteen year old and Ron, but also outdid at least a third of the tributes in the real games. When Finnick went, it was the first time since the concept of a Career came about that a fourteen year old became the boy tribute from Four. And Ron had been on the butt end of that situation.

Ron gets up and looks out of his window, reflecting on the games. He fought in them the next year, and had won the gruesome event only due to Finnick's mentoring. He'd been very grateful and supportive of Finnick for rescuing him, but after being a mentor himself, he understood Finnick's disinterest for the role he played. Beside the fact that shortly after, they'd been told to prostitute themselves, and when they'd refused, they'd lost their mothers, and frankly, their hold on reality.

Ron goes through his morning routine with breakfast, a shower, then dressing himself in his normal summer wear, long grey pants, a t-shirt, and thin jacket. He looks at himself in the mirror, adjusts his straight black hair, and applies the small bit of black eye-liner most wealthy citizens of almost all the Districts wore. For the rich, this was considered a bare minimum of makeup, though, neither Finnick nor his father wore any makeup unless specifically instructed. By about 7 Western Panem Time, Ron comes downstairs and turns on the television. The previous night, he'd grown sick of watching Cato fighting the wolf-mutations and went to bed. Ron hopes that either Cato, or the monsters, had won the previous night's battle, and the torturous engagement over. The white of the screen dims to show the games, and Cato, or what's left of him, is clearly visible. He is bloody, skinned, his armor in shambles, and one of his arms is severed. The wolf mutations are still gnawing on him, but based on his occasional moans, Cato is still alive and suffering badly. Ron nearly loses consciousness.

"…no…" is all the Victor can get out. Katniss awakes, and her and Peeta go and see Cato still being gnawed on by the wolf mutations. She takes her bow and mercifully ends his life. Just as the cannon fires, he hears his door bell ring.

"I'm coming…just a moment…" Ron says, though far too quiet for the person to hear. He runs to the door and opens it, then goes back to the screen. The games are still on. The mutts are gone, and Katniss and Peeta are moving away from the body, assumedly to allow Cato to be taken away.

"Ron…" A voice, soft and sad says. Ron knows who it is, and turns to see Annie standing in the doorway, rather confused. Her beautiful brown hair is pooled at her shoulders, her soft, sea-green eyes darting around the room. Her focus on whatever she came over to his house for is gone as she looks at the man. Ron sighs, knowing she probably needs, or at least wants, his full attention, but he also really wants to see how the games end.

"Come in, quickly. The Hunger Games are coming to a close."

"Uh…okay," the girl says. Ron, more roughly than he really should, goes to her, pulls the young woman into the room, and puts her in a chair. He turns and looks back to the screen, where Katniss and Peeta are looking around.

"Ron…why are you so interested in the games? Didn't the District Four tributes lose already?" Annie asks.

"This Katniss girl here…there's something about her. Finnick and Beetee helped to keep her alive, and I understand why. She draws people in, convinces them…I don't understand exactly," Annie looks at him, appearing lost. She turns back to the games and points to the two.

"Why are the two of them standing together? I thought you said they were almost done with the games…" Annie suddenly stops moving, tears start to slip down her face, and she puts her fingers in her ears. Ron sees in that moment that he has to give her his full attention, and drops to his knees in front of her.

"Annie, Annie, its alright…its me, Ron. I'm going to take care of you," Ron says, gently pulling Annie's hands from her ears. She starts to hyperventilate and seems afraid of the man in front of her. _It's because I look like the tribute from Four who was beheaded in her games, _Ron thinks_._

"No…Adrian…don't…don't die!"

"Annie…I'm not Adrian…I'm Ron. Ron Stafford, you know me, I'm friends with you and Finnick. Finnick was my mentor. Mags was Adrian's. You remember watching me come home, don't you? You were…twelve, you had about six years left of at the Academy. Remember?" Ron asks. This calms Annie down, and her breathing slows. She stares at him, and a smile slips on her face.

"I know you Ron…"

"Yes you do…You know that I…" the screen buzzes loudly, then the voice of Claudius Templesmith, host of the Hunger Games, comes on.

"Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed," he says. "Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor."

Ron freezes. Annie seems frozen too, despite not really understanding what was going on. She probably can see on his face that this was not what Ron was hoping for. He turns slowly and listens to Katniss and Peeta argue for a moment. Peeta wants to die, but Katniss won't have it. Then she pauses, and removes berry from her pocket, the same berries that killed that girl from District Five, Finch.

"What are they going to do?" Ron says, his attention completely back on the television. Annie seems to remain calm, however, as the two begin to count.

"One…"

"No…are they?"

"Two…"

"What…what will the Capitol do…without a vic…"

"Three…" Ron's heart drops. The Capitol chose no Victor instead of two. And now whatever great danger to District Three and Four Beetee mentioned was coming. Ron's eyes flick toward Annie, trying to consider what she is going to have to face when trumpets blare and Claudius Templesmith's voice returns.

"Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you — the tributes of District Twelve!"

The two spit the berries from their mouth, neither having swallowed the poison. And in that moment, Ron knows, they did it. They survived, both of them, and they won, two Victors, in a defiance of the Capitol not seen since the Dark Days. And he had some part in that. Or at least he hoped so, when he sent his father's wealth and the meticulously designed trident to the Capitol upon Beetee's request. Annie is clearly amazed and confused, and Ron smiles as he gets her a cup of water.

"I just wanted to ask you if you had any ideas for me to surprise Finnick…but…"

"It seems I have some explaining to do…" Ron says, smiling and taking her hand.

* * *

"They did it!" Finnick yells. This time, he's in the District Three quarters, where Wiress and Beetee are murmuring to each other while Librae, Johanna, and Blight are again congratulating and high fiving. Even the Avoxes washing the breakfast dishes look up at the cheering mentors.

"That girl…she did it, not only stayed alive, but defied the Capitol and kept her boy alive too," Finnick says. He gets out another bottle of whiskey, which Blight takes happily, but Beetee pulls him away from the group.

"Finnick!" Beetee grunts, sounding flustered, but Finnick can't help but throw his arms around the man. He also flashes a smile to Wiress, an older, seemingly confused and soft-spoken mentor of Three. Far too often, Wiress was completely in another world, and though clearly excited today, she still seems to let her mind wander away.

"We did it Beetee!" Finnick declares. Beetee smiles, then returns to his emotionless frown.

"Yes, we did. But now we have to consider what our next move is. Keeping Katniss alive is not going to make President Snow and his lot happy, but if we decide to side with Plutarch, we'll need to have some idea of what they are planning."

"And I have to go break into his office, don't I?" Finnick mutters, his smile slipping to an annoyed scowl as he is caught in another of Beetee's plans.

"I'll be monitoring the whole situation. And in return, I've got you free from your clients. In fact, Wiress here will officially serve as your purveyor," Finnick looks at her and winks.

"When they ask you how I did, don't be afraid to use exciting descriptors."

"I'll be sure to…" Wiress says, trailing off.

"Okay, so Wiress supposedly enjoys my company tonight."

"Right, and Johanna will start an incident with Brutus about losing. After they get the attention of the peacekeepers, you'll be headed to the underground. I'll cut the power from the cameras on a routine maintenance check, and then you'll go into the tunnels…" Beetee pulls Finnick to a small computer, where he summons a holographic image of the Central Governance District of the Capitol. He pressed a few buttons and the underground tunnels below the area light up. An arrow moves through one tunnel and then stops at a building, follows up the side, and blinks once it hits the tenth floor.

"How in the heck am I supposed to get through there without being seen?" Beetee hands Finnick a black mask in response. Finnick eyes Beetee, then turns to Johanna.

"Are you okay with this?"

"I've been waiting to sock Brutus for a long time," she says, looking rather evil and cracking her knuckles. Finnick looks back to Beetee, who is holding a baton, no longer than his arm.

"You will run into a number of obstacles in the tunnels. I believe the official term is Pods. You'll need this…" Beetee hands Finnick the black, metallic baton. Finnick holds the device in his hand, then twirls it. It feels strangely familiar, almost like a…

"Press the button here. This is a stealth weapon your former pupil and fellow mentor Ron Stafford invented. A new trident…" Beetee says. Finnick puts his thumb on the indicated button, and then the baton extends, and three long blades burst from the top edge of the weapon. The blades curve in, and seem to have sharp edges; the thing is almost like a combination of a stabbing and cleaving weapon. It's not exactly like the flatter three pronged tool he learned to use when he was a young tribute, but it is balanced just the same, and feels quite comfortable in Finnick's hand.

"And it withdraws to a small baton." Beetee takes the weapon and holding another button, has the device shirk to its baton length.

"Ron, you've done it again," Finnick says, taking the baton back from Beetee, "So, when do we start?"

* * *

Finnick drops down through the sewer pipe and splashes into a large stream of filth heading toward the waste disposal plants in District One. District One doesn't want it to be well known that they also manage the waste of the Capitol, but Finnick found out about it from an overly talkative client, and now laughs whenever he hears the luxury adjectives which are the names of the pretentious citizens of District One, thinking about how they literally shine up the Capitol sh*t and sell it back as diamonds.

"Now…let's see…" Finnick turns out of the sewer into a small open tube. It is bright white, and Finnick doesn't feel all that secretive, even with black clothes and a mask on. The brightness of the room actually hurts his eyes at first, and as he opens a small portable map to examine the route, he has to stare at it for several minutes before his vision clears up.

"Good grief, they don't want to keep any secrets do they?" Finnick mutters, then he sees something move. He looks to it, and draws his trident, but sees only an Avox, a silent, tongueless, servant girl with red hair, who is pushing a cart slowly toward another tunnel. She doesn't seem to notice Finnick's presence, and instead continues with her duties. Finnick waits for her to go down the hall, then looks at the map again.

It's pretty straightforward, through two long tunnels and one short winding one then to an elevator in the Gamemakers Center. In the center, Plutarch's office is the first one on the right. None of that has to be handled with much care; the problem is the Pods. Those terrible devices of the Capitol: bombs, or automated weapons, or even muttations lined the city streets, in case of another rebellion. Most of the underground tunnels also had some Pods, but these were rarely armed; the tunnels were traversed day to day by the many Avoxes who managed the background work of the Capitol. However, because Beetee had cut the camera system a short time before, and the area's peacekeepers were dealing with the epic showdown of Johanna and Brutus, and it was likely the Pods in front of Finnick would be active.

Finnick walks maybe twenty yards before he comes to what is his first Pod, a line of arrows. He draws his trident and holds it out in front of him. The motion detector fires a mass of arrows, as expected, but soon a horizontal line of arrows starts, and Finnick has to do a very well timed roll to avoid the coming arrows and stop himself from activating the sword shooters to his right.

"Okay, two down, six more…" Finnick carefully crawls under a laser system, and then uses the trident to break a saw. As the saw breaks, Finnick hears thumping, and turns to see that the ceiling of the tunnel seems to be collapsing. However, as he looks more carefully, he sees that in fact the roof is crushing the area behind him, dropping down and going back up. Finnick starts to turn the other way, but then a wall covered in spikes, which also apparently came from the ceiling, is approaching his position fast. Finnick looks back and forth, trying to decide which death would be better, then is pulled into a cubby. He sees the Avox, the one with red hair, who is holding a hand over her mouth. Finnick nods and looks back to see the spike wall crash into the falling ceiling. Both retract, apparently satisfied that they eliminated their target.

"Thanks…" Finnick says, a little embarrassed. The Avox girl shakes her head, perhaps tying to say it is no trouble. Finnick spends a lot of time reading body language, since neither Annie or Mags can speak very well, but he's never tried to communicate with a complete mute. The girl makes a motion to her mouth, and Finnick nods.

"I know you're an Avox…" he says, "thank you for helping me." The girls shakes her head, then makes the motion with her mouth again. She then stops and thinks for a moment, then bears her teeth and points at the canine. Finnick thinks for a moment. Canines…

"Muttations?" Finnick says, pointing. She nods then points to him, then holds up a set of numbers, one, two, three, four, all the way to twelve. This is far too complex of a riddle for Finnick, but he tries to think about it anyway.

"Me…one, two…twelve…mentors? No. Uh…the districts? The victors? The tributes?" At this, she nods vigorously, and Finnick's slow brain begins to draw the connection.

"Tribute…muttations…the wolf-muttations!" He says, then leans out of the cubby. Sure enough, there is a fenced area down at the edge of the tunnel, and the wolf-mutts from the games are sniffing around in this area, barking and fighting occasionally. Finnick draws back and looks at the girl.

"I've got to get through there. I've got to get to Plutarch Heavensbee's office. The girl seems to consider this, then walks out of the cubby slowly. She takes a few steps and points to a camera. Finnick shakes his head.

"My friend Beetee brought the system down…should I be telling you this?" Finnick asks. The girl ignores him and goes to the camera and waves at it. Apparently it is supposed to respond to the motion somehow, because she appears confused when it remains unmoving.

"You know, Beetee, he's another mentor. His from District Three, electronics are his thing. His district makes these cameras," Finnick says. This is apparently enough to convince her, and she starts toward the mutts. The wolves seemed far too preoccupied by their own fighting to notice her, and she puts her hand into the cage. One mutts comes and sniffs it, then turns back to its neighbor. Finnick is amazed as she moves listlessly through the monsters and turns the corner. Finnick can't see her, but suddenly howling and barking begins, then all the mutts go from his view and start attacking something.

"Oh no!" Finnick yells, jumping over the fence and turning the corner to find most mutts attacking a piece of meat. Finnick stops and tries to be absolutely unmoving. He sees the Avox girl, her eyes big, holding a hammer over the fence area. Apparently, the fence is somehow connected to their collars, as they yelp every time they get too close to the fence. Probably, the Avox planned to get the mutts attention and knock them out, but now that wasn't going to work. The Avox girl looks around, the waves Finnick over as calmly as possible. Finnick steps slowly along the turn of the wall, but just then, one of the wolves looks at him. It has the deep green eyes of Porick, and it stares at him for some time. Finnick, knowing whatever it is far beyond redemption, draws his trident and holds his hand out, still going toward the edge. The Porick mutt suddenly roars and jumps at Finnick. He responds by flourishing his trident and driving it into the mutt's neck. Porick falls to the ground, unmoving. The other mutts look up, but only two leave the meat long enough to attack Finnick, who defeats them both with quick attacks. Two more look up, and Finnick runs to the fence and jumps over, stabbing and hacking about three more monsters to get there. Once beyond the fence, Finnick sees that the mutts bark and snarls and yelp, but they cannot get to him. He steps back slowly, then turns to find the Avox girl held by a peacekeeper, who has a pistol in his hand. Another stands behind him, holding a pistol at Finnick. The Victor lifts his trident slowly. He's got to play this right.

"Drop your weapon and surrender!" The peacekeeper says, holding the girl in a headlock. The girl, who seems to be losing oxygen, lifts her finger slowly and makes a cross on the peacekeeper's hand. Finnick, not so sure about it as Katniss was, flings his trident at the hand. The girl bits the peacekeeper's arm, and he exposes his chest, which the trident goes straight through. The girl turns the peacekeeper's pistol to his companion, and hits him with two quick gunshots. He falls to the ground, unmoving. The girl looks at Finnick and nods. He smiles in response.

"You seem pretty well trained with a pistol…" He draws his trident out of the peacekeeper and closes it back to a baton,"That should be it for the pods for the moment. Thanks…" the girl smiles and starts back toward the fenced mutts.

"Wait...I am curious...why did you help me?" Finnick asks. The girl turns, looks at the camera, then takes something that looks like a pen and draws on the wall. It takes Finnick a moment, but soon he sees the symbol materializing, a bird, attached to a circle. She smiles and leaves Finnick staring at the picture. It looks familiar, the bird, the arrow it holds, the circle around it.

"It's a…mockingjay…that Katniss girl!"


	7. Part 1: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Mica opened the door to reveal Mags, leaning heavily on a staff, smiling widely and wearing a long dark green dress. It looks fantastic on her, and William, wearing one of his many blue suits, comes forward and kisses the elderly woman's hand.

"You look stunning as always Mags."

"Thank you, William," she says, kissing his cheek in return. He takes a moment to look over the small, white-haired woman. Those two, they were the remainder of Finnick's family. Finnick always tells people Mags, who had not only mentored the boy in the games, but had also taken care of his drunkard, depressed, suicidal post-games version, was half of his family. William always presumed he was the other half, or at least Iliana, his wife, was, but there was really no telling. William brings Mags into the sitting room, then goes back to the closet.

"I'm not quite ready. Unlike you, Mags, I'm never so together as to be on time," William says. Mags smiles, and takes a lemonade from Mica, who is also wearing formal clothes, a long dress, earrings, and a necklace. Mags pulls the serving lady over and looks at her necklace.

"This is nice," Mags says. Mica nods.

"Yes, I saw it at the marketplace this morning, and I thought I should have something nice to wear for the funeral," William pauses tying his tie and goes to see the necklace. It is a circle with a bird in it. The bird seems to be holding an arrow, and is barely attached to the circle. It is bright gold and quite beautiful. And familiar…

"Have I seen this before Mica?" William asks. Mica gives him a puzzled look in return.

"I doubt it. I bought it this morning."

"But…it seems so…I'm sure I've seen it before. Maybe I saw it on…TV…" William suddenly remembers what it's from and snatches it from her neck.

"Mr. Odair!"

"Sorry Mica, but you can't wear this. Not until I've dealt with the situation with that Katniss girl…" William opens a drawer and stuffs the mockingjay necklace in. He will not be held accountable for that act of rebellion. Not yet. William pulls out a necklace of Iliana with a dulled and colorful fishing lure in its center and puts it on Mica.

"Wear this instead…" William says. Mica looks at the pendant, which is not particularly nice or flashy, but sighs and leaves it on.

"The Odairs always were rash …" Mags says, eyeing William, though he hears silliness in her voice. William rolls his eyes, then points to her.

"Oh, by the way, Finnick finally called me back, and he's coming straight home. No more lovers for him this time. He claims he found no one…'interesting,'" William says, making air quotes. Mags giggles in response, then starts to pull herself from the chair.

"Well, we should get going then. Don't want to miss his return with the bodies," Mags takes William's tie and fixes it quickly. Apparently, she is as good with suits as she is with hooks. William holds out his arm, which Mags leans on, and they leave his home. He escorts her to his private car, which takes them to his private train. From there, they go to the District Four Area Two Station, the main train station of the district. That is where the bodies of the dead tributes will be returned. Each year, since at least one tribute is killed in the games, District Four holds a large funeral when the body (usually bodies) is returned along with their mentors. The Capitol frowns on funerary events for the tributes in general, but the seeing as District Four is rather proud of the Hunger Games, as well as the celebratory nature of the event, the Capitol never seems overly flustered or concerned with Four doing this.

When Mags and William get off the train, they find the area outside the train station bustling with people in their nicest suits or dresses. This also gives a view into the luxury of District Four, as almost everyone is wearing the most recent fashions, and very few are without at least a little makeup. It's not like the Captiol, but William thinks it looks pretty nice. William and Mags step through this fancy funerary crowd and make their way onto the stage set up outside of the station. One of the tracks was built specifically for televised returns, and so the returning train will stop behind the stage in front of the crowd, where a large number of intra-district television cameras will record the event.

William and Mags take their places before the audience. Mags goes to the right, where there are the victor's chairs, one for each of the six of them. Jarrok is in the far right space; Mags takes her place to his left, and Ron is in the chair to the left of her. Jarrok is in his normal ancient dark blue military uniform while Ron wears a sky blue suit. One chair will probably be empty, as Annie is excused from the event in general, though William is a little surprised; normally she is front and center to see his son. Perhaps she has something special planned. Two other empty seats on the right side of the stage are for the returning mentors. On the left side of the stage are two seats and William's. William got one as the host of the event, which he had been for nine years they'd held the funeral. In the second belonged Otho Principle, the flowery, pompous, and at times pathetic escort of District Four. His job is to manage the tributes on the way to the Capitol, and in theory, accompany them back as the Capitol representative. In the other belongs the Mayor of District Four, Craven. Nobody knew his first name, nor was he all that notable. In fact, he has to push his way through the crowd to reach the stage, and when he finally gets there, he clears his throat to get William's attention.

"Ahem, Mayor Craven," William says, jumping to his feet. The man, who has grey eyes, small glasses, a hooked nose and curly black and grey hair never makes all that much of an impression on people. Without the blue-green circle surrounding an M on his chest, he wouldn't wield any influence. But, for some reason, the Capitol picked this turkey to govern the district.

"William," Craven snaps, "Let's get started. The train will be here shortly. Make you d*mn speech." William nods, then goes to the microphone. He pulls out a card with his scripted eulogy.

"I would like to welcome you, ladies and gentlemen, to this solemn and celebratory moment. As with every year, I am William Odair, host of the District Four Hunger Games Funeral. While our tributes were not successful this year, and have fallen for the glory of the Capitol, I would also like to extend congratulations to the victors(!) this year, Peeta Mellark, and Katniss Everdeen." The wild applause and cheers in response to the girl's name is unsettling to the Mayor and peacekeepers around the station, but for William, this inspires him to go off script.

"Yes, and what a Hunger Games, wasn't it? One that ended the way it did because the girl was so in love. How truly inspiring. Nevertheless, we must honor our fallen. We will take a moment of silence." William bows his head, and there is silence. Suddenly, someone hums a few notes. It is a song William heard in the games, a small melody one of the girls sang to end a day of harvest in District Eleven. But this was Four. Why was that person singing? William looks over to Statius, head peacekeeper in the District, who starts pointing at the man with his staff. William grabs the mic again and starts talking loudly.

"Thank you also for your continued support and work to keep _Tribute Academy_ open. We never win if we don't try, and the _Academy for the Advancement of the Tributes of District Four_ works fantastically to get our tributes as prepared as possible." There is very forced applause. William looks around, then points to Ron, "This Victor, Ron Stafford here, he can tell you what a difference it made for him…" Ron nods and waves, sending some girls swooning, but still there is too much silence. William notices, mercifully, that the Capitol train is arriving, and points it out boldly, "But we don't have time for that, because here comes the great Victors and the two most beautiful people of District Four," the crowd goes wild as the train arrives, and they are shouting Finnick's name. William holds out his hand, _"Wait your d*mn turn boy!" _he thinks.

"First, is the lovely, mystique of the District, stronger and more beloved than our rolling waves, its Librae Ogilvy! Swordswoman of the West!" The people cheer loudly as Librae gets off the train car. She waves to them, but is really more focused on her two children, who rush excitedly to their mother's arms and hug her tightly. The older one, the girl, is actually going into her first year at the Academy next year, and many say she's already as good as her mother with a sword. William wonders if she'll be the first mother, daughter pair to win.

"And, of course, here he is. The Killer of Four and Champion of its people, your victor and my son, Finnick Odair!" William yells. Finnick comes off the train to booming support. He waves to the crowd, which cheers his name, then goes to his father and hugs him rigidly. Finnick is slightly taller than him, and the hug appears very awkward, as neither wants to be the first to let go yet neither really wants to continue to hold on.

"Finnick, let go…"

"No, you…" Finnick grunts back. William sighs and hugs him tighter.

"On three…one, two three…" William counts quickly. They let go and wave to the crowd, who apparently thought it was a show of affection.

"Still that painful to show some love, huh?" William says.

"I'd ask the same of you, old man," Finnick says through his fake smile.

"Unfortunately, we have a show to put on. Let's pull it together," William says, pointing at various cameras, which take many pictures and lots of video.

"We have more than our show to worry about…" Finnick mutters, then rather sincerely sweeps Mags off her feet and spins her around. He gives Ron a quick hug, then waves to Jarrok, who is more interested in Librae's return, and holding her hand excitedly. At William's behest, the victors take their chairs. Somewhere in that moment, the escort of Four, a thin, grey haired man with a red suit, blue eyelashes, and one hand so tattooed it looks like ocean water, sits down next to the Mayor. Otho smiles brightly as William holds out his hand to the Mayor and goes to his chair next to the man.

"Welcome home," William mutters. Otho gives a terse nod.

"It's good to be in my second home..." By now, the Mayor has taken the mic and is speaking in a gruff tone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I, Mayor Craven, chief administrator of District Four, would now like to say a few words to the families of the fallen tributes. Would you come forward?" A thick middle aged man, red haired and faced, comes up to one part of the stage, while a slanted eyed, thin woman and three of her children come onto the other part of the stage. Craven takes the two adults' hands and lowers his head.

"For you, the Capitol, we know the sacrifice is part of our submission for our mistake during the Dark Days. We ask you to forgive us, and help us to succeed with their victory next time." As with every year, this rubs William the wrong way. The Districts don't want to keep playing until they win. They want to stop now to prevent losing anymore. And the people are starting to let him know, as they begin murmuring, then the song again. Someone else is whistling it now, but William knows for the sake of the stability of his District, the song has to stop. William goes off the stage, and to Statius.

"Sir, might I ask that the whistler is removed to Area One for further investigation."

"I would, William, but my orders are clear on this matter, if the song, or the bird are heard or seen, we are to shoot on sight," Statius says. William looks around through the head peacekeeper's lieutenants, and sees Marcia. He assumes he caught her gaze through her helmet, and looks back to Statius.

"Come on, Statius. You're not going to kill these people. This is District Four. We're all talk, in both the Games and anything which resembles rebellion." Statius shrugs.

"I didn't really plan on doing anything originally, so I suppose a simple arrest will be sufficient."

"Thank you. Now, allow me Hadrian and that woman…Marcia? Anyway, allow me to have them with me as pallbearers. And don't forget to bring all the lieutenant peacekeepers to my reception," Statius nods, then directs peacekeepers. William returns to the stage, himself a little frightened how much power he has over the peacekeepers. His fear is two-fold though; while he is concerned it could corrupt him, he is also concerned what will happen when he loses that influence in six months when the Victory Tour and the crackdown roll through. While two peacekeepers roughly grab a man and drag him away, the Mayor turns back to the bodies being removed from the train. Marcia and Hadrian come onto the stage and help move the blue caskets with the number four on them. On each of the caskets is a flag of Panem, with the eagle standing tall with its wings extended. The woman is crying and touching the casket. But the red faced man is less heartbroken and more enraged.

"This! You expect this to make me feel better!" He yells. His accent marks him as a man of Area Seven, like Mica and Iliana. But his voice is far from soothing for William.

"The Capitol took his mother away, killed her in the "uprising" eight years ago!" This gives William a sick feeling. He looks at Statius, considering what to do. "The Capitol killed their mothers too!" Porick's father says, pointing Ron and Finnick, who look at each other, then back at the man. Everyone knew that was the official story, but this was unexpected.

"They took everything from me! What do I care?" he yells, grabbing the flag and throwing it at a cameraman, who easily dodges the attack. He turns back and starts to pry open the coffin. Statius starts to pull out his pistol but William puts out his hand, and the peacekeeper stops.

"Let me see my boy!" Porick's father yells. He finally rips open the coffin, but after looking a few moments, just slumps to the ground. William turns, looking for a shooter, but Librae's scream turns their attention back to the coffin, where a badly disfigured half wolf, half human is lying in the coffin. Finnick runs to the body and points at the neck. William rushes back onstage and looks at the boy.

"I struck it there, in the neck with my trident!"

"What were you doing with a trident? Why were you fighting the muttation?" William asks, but he really doesn't want to know the answer. Both Finnick and William can't do much more than stare at the body. It was defiantly him; those eyes were Porick's. Which means that they actually did take his body, make him into a monster, and send him back into fight. William has to take a few steps back, then turns to Statius.

"This funeral is over, disperse the crowd." Statius looks at him a moment, then turns back to the people.

"You heard the man! Get out! Go home! The funeral is over!" The peacekeepers spread out and start pushing people back, who are screaming out in frustration and launching threats about the Capitol. Eventually, one starts chanting "Katniss!" and soon, the crowd is screaming her name. William closes the coffin quickly, and turns to Marcia.

"Take Porick's father home. And the family of Liana too."

"As you say," Marcia agrees. Through the helmet speakers, she sounds monotone, but William believes there is a hint of shock in her voice too. She picks up the Porick's father easily, then looks to William, "I assume the ball is cancelled."

"Far from it. Just…the purpose has changed a bit…" William says, smiling. He turns to Otho, who is running his hands down his legs, straightening his pants.

"My, my, far too exciting for my taste."

"One drink will change that," William mutters. Otho apparently hears this, as he looks incensed.

"Wha…I never! How dare you bring up my social composure!" William is sure Otho goes up an octave on the last word, and has to stifle a laugh.

"I meant no offense Otho. Come, let's go to my home. I'll need your help planning my party!" William says, putting his arm around the man. Otho seems calmed by this, and excitedly rubs his hands together.

"Oh…do tell me you have an ice block that needs sculpting; I do so love to sculpt ice. And let's make sure the foods are proper, none of that gumbo your son always demands, its so ridiculous, sausage and whole crabs with other junk in that soup…bleh! No, we need the full crab works: crab cakes, crab and swiss melts, crab imperial, crab pasta, crab brisque, and crab legs of course, warmed, not cold…" Otho is dreaming of food, and his discussion has caused Jarrok to follow behind closely. Librae and Mags are also coming, but Ron and Finnick are holding back on the stage. William turns and looks at them.

"Finnick! Will I see you at the ball?" William yells. Finnick looks at him, and flashes a very suggestive smile, probably just to irritate his father.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" On "world," he goes up an octave, and soon everyone is hiding their laughs at the sad, but mercifully ignorant Otho.


	8. Part 1: Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Enjoy this moment of Odesta and review, review, review!

* * *

When Finnick goes into his home, he notices that a main light is on, which he knew he wouldn't have done on purpose. The aquarium is dark, but the lights over the central steps are bright, and Finnick turns back, looking for a trick, when he hears the voice that tells him everything is alright.

"Finnick…" Soft, gentle, unsure, needy, but more than anything, lovely. That is how he would describe the voice of Annie, who is at this moment wearing a wonderful black dress, which starts slightly below her shoulders, and stretches to the floor. Her brown hair is gathered to her right, and she wears the golden bangle he'd given her the last time he saw her. It was a bright, shimmering yellow, and had the appearance of fish touching each other's tails. She stands on the top of the stairs, and as she comes down slowly, Finnick feels he must bow to the woman.

"My lady, Annie, of the house of Cresta," he says. Annie smiles and as she reaches the ground floor, she lets him kiss her hand.

"How do I look?" she asks. He sweeps her off her feet and looks straight in her eyes.

"Like the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," Annie blushes badly, then notices Finnick is carrying her back to her room.

"What are you doing?"

"We have just enough time for a quick round," he says, bouncing his eyebrows. She playfully smacks him.

"Put me down! I don't want you to wrinkle my dress!"

"Oh don't worry, you won't be wearing that for long…" Annie, laughing, gets out of his grip and pushes him aside. Finnick can see her smiling, really smiling, and happy. She looks like her old self, the sixteen year old girl who let the seventeen year old drunken Finnick in her home, took care of him, and gave him the confidence to keep on living. While Mags helped him stay alive after his games, Annie was the one who gave him the will to live.

"Finnick, we'll have all night! Put something nice on and try to look presentable!" Annie says. Finnick grabs his collar and takes his shirt off, then drops his pants, walking in the nude past the girl, who is holding her head in her hands.

"You're a mess…" she mutters.

"Only when I'm with you…" he says, going into his closet and finding formal wear. It is a long white shirt open in the middle, with blue pants and a sash over his side. Nearly ten years ago, it was his interview costume. He had the pants and shirt lengthened and the sash was a new addition, but he still felt like he was fourteen wearing it. He looks back to Annie, who smiles, and puts a necklace on him.

"There…" she says. He looks at it. It is made of fish scales, and shimmers like her bangle, though, unlike the harsh gold, this seems more natural.

"Well?" he says, striking a pose. She giggles, then leans to his ear.

"You look like the most handsome man I've ever seen…" She kisses his cheek, then they lock lips for a long time. He's lost in her, with her, part of her. This is real love, not what he has to do with so many women of the Capitol. Not like their sensuous touches and giggles. Not like how Katniss kissed that boy.

"Hmm!" Finnick opens his eyes and leans back.

"What?" Annie asks, a little confused and sounding more like her broken form. He leans forward and rubs her arms again.

"Nothing…I figured something out…" he says, grabbing her hand, "Now, let's get to my father's house before that old coot sends peacekeepers after me…" They go down his stairs together and out onto the Victors Road, the street which cut through the twelve homes of the Victor's Village, and was touched by his father's home as well. Finnick walks with Annie down past two empty houses before he hears a shout.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. and Mrs. Odair! How do you do?" Ron yells from his porch. Mags is with him, and smiles at the man. Both are wearing the clothes they had for the funeral. Annie waves, and Finnick wolf whistles.

"Not so bad of a couple yourselves." Mags laughs and Ron coughs, but both are clearly in good spirits. _"I have to stay this happy. I'm tired of being miserable with that man," _Finnick thinks as Ron helps Mags down the porch steps.

"Where are Librae and Jarrok?" Finnick asks.

"We're here!" Librae says from behind the man. Jarrok is holding her arm, while her boy, who is maybe four now, holds her other hand. The girl, Priscilla, who is six, is much less needy, and races out from behind the woman.

"Aunt Annie!" Priscilla screams, running to the woman. Annie picks her up and touches young girl's nose.

"Hello sweetie!" she says, weakly, even a little bit unsure, but her intention is clear.

"Hey, how 'bout some love for old uncle Finnick," Priscilla gives Finnick a stern look.

"I saw you at the train. No more for you! You're greedy!" Finnick belly laughs, and rubs the girl's head.

"You're right of course. Come we have a party to attend." The six mentors go in a great precession toward William's house, which is already full of people. Unlike some of William's more exciting events, this one is restricted to those who are part of District Four, and multiple times, William has had to kick drunken Capitol citizens out of his home. It is meant to be a sad and somber event, honoring those killed in the games, but it has over time become a happy occasion, and now it is an enormous party to "inspire life in the living" as William puts it. When the victors come to the door, William throws it open and ushers them him. He is wearing a new suit, this one dark green, and holding a cane. With him also comes Otho, who is marginally a District Four resident, but the condo he owns in Area Three is apparently close enough for William. He is holding a glass of champagne, but already appears quite drunk as stumbles to the stairs and slurs out something like a greeting.

"Otho, go back inside…" William mutters, pushing the man back into his home, "Ahem, sorry about that. Come! Enjoy yourselves! I've got a good one for you today, Jarrok, oysters on the rocks!"

"Oh goody!" Jarrok says, rushing past the man. Ron shakes his hand, Mags and Librae both give him a kiss. But now it is Finnick's turn. The man looks at his father, and then holds out his hand.

"Should I be concerned where that's been?" William says, before taking the hand. Finnick grins, but its forced. Annie chimes in to dispel tension.

"I was…wondering that…myself," she says, smiling at him.

"Then don't touch this after tonight…" Finnick says. William draws his hand away, and Annie giggles at it. Finnick swallows and straightens up. If that Katniss girl can act like she's madly in love with some boy she barely knows, he can at least be amiable to his father.

"Is there gumbo?" Finnick asks. William points into his home.

"For you…always."

* * *

William holds his glass of wine, looking out over the crowd in his home. Jarrok is taking Librae and her children around, tasting various foods. Mags is talking with some of the older guests, while Ron is making the rounds with the ship captains, fleet commanders, and hotel managers, including talking with his father, William's best employee, Terrance Stafford. And Finnick…oh Finnick. He seems to actually be enjoying himself for once, going from person to person, his hand glued to Annie's. At times, they almost appear like a normal couple. Annie's father is with William in the upper lounge, over the ballroom, and tears are slipping down his face as he watches the girl.

"She's…so happy…"

"My son looks happy too. In fact, I'm not sure much else makes them happy anymore," William says, taking a small sip of the wine. Annie's father is holding a bottle of some cheap whiskey, and takes a deep swig, then puts it down.

"I remember when that little girl wouldn't let go of her daddy…" he says, burping slightly. He's clearly drunk, and will probably tell the story William has heard from him about a hundred times.

"Yes…I know you do…"

"She used to say to me…'Never let go daddy. I don't know what I would do,'" he says with another swig. William downs his wine quickly and takes the bottle from him.

"I need a real drink too…" William says. If he's got to hear the rant, he might as well give some too.

"Yeah well, I never told her, but I didn't know what I would do either! Sure, her brother's fine. He takes care of me, but Annie was my first, and always had a special connection to me. Her brother loved his mother, peace be on her soul…but Annie was mine…" he leans back in his chair. William's head is spinning after only two swigs. He can't imagine what the man, who's been drinking from that bottle since the party started, is feeling.

"It's just wrong, isn't it? Finnick was that way. Loved his mother, attached to her…but he always wanted to be like me…hmph! I had a dream of one of our fishing trips not that long ago. You know what he said to me? That he was going to win the games for me! That he was going to be my champion…" Tears form in William's eyes, but he's not embarrassed, as the man across from him has started crying loudly.

"Why…did…the Capitol…take her from me?" Annie's father gets out before collapsing back into tears, "Those da…da…d*mned jabberJays! I never said those things! I told her so many times! But she wouldn't believe it! And her mother…that's what killed her…not the pneumonia, it was the fact that she lost the will to live because her daughter was afraid of her…" The man is starting to cry hysterically, and William puts his arms around him.

"It's alright…I know it's hard…I know what it's like…" William holds the man, then sees Mica, who races over with a towel. Annie's father blows his nose, then Mica escorts him to a bathroom to help clean him up. William turns back to the banister over the main ballroom, wipes away his tears, and Marcia comes to him. She's wearing a formal dress, and looks stunning, despite the pink hair.

"Hello my dear."

"Mr. Odair," she says tersely. William grins.

"I was so hoping you would come. Let me get you a drink…" William starts. Marcia grabs William and kisses him, which throws him off, then brings his ear close to her lips.

"I've gone through my men. Of the 110 under my command, 78 are with you for sure. My personal guard of five and myself pushes the number to 84. Right now other lieutenant peacekeepers are also possible allies, Hadrian in particular..." Marcia winks at a man coming up the stairs.

"If you ever need more sugar, let me know Odair," she says, then takes Hadrian's outstretched arm and goes back to the main room bellow. William smiles at them, then snaps at a servant and has a microphone brought to the top of his balcony. He taps it several times to get his guests' attention.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome, again, to this somber and important occasion. I hope the food is excellent, the company exhilarating, and now, let us get a bit of music as well shall we…" the people cheer. Music…of all the things William did which showed his upper class lifestyle, hiring bands had to be one of the most offensive to the impoverished.

"Now, let us welcome the natives of Area Three, the best singer, pianist team in the business, your very own, Dynamic Duo!" A woman in a long white dress and an older man in a bright green suit come out on stage and begin playing a rather upbeat tune. The middle of the ballroom is opened up and allowed for dancing, which Finnick and Annie immediately go to. Jarrok puts another scallop in his mouth, then is dragged out by Priscilla, while Librae hold up her son and dances with him. William watches the couples on the floor dance; even Mags is eventually pulled out by Finnick, once Annie apparently decides she needs to sit down. As William looks at the boy, he sees himself, much younger, much more lively. And the girl Finnick keeps going to, keeps planting kisses on, that girl is Iliana, the love of his life. Iliana is so beautiful, so fantastic when William holds her, so clearly in love, as he is with her. William remains in this dream until Ron's father Terrance shakes him awake.

"William…" the man says. William looks at him. He's wearing a dark green suit, is tall, large, and has slanted eyes. His hair line is receding and his face has spots on it, but he is still clearly quite fit based on his pulsing muscles and lean figure. And he's plenty rich, not quite like William, but enough to own three houses and one half of all the hotels of District Four. William managed the hotels through him, and he made no secret that Terrance was his best employee. He also made it no secret that the man was quite eligible.

"What are you doing up here? There are probably a hundred girls down there who would kill for a dance with you!" William says. Terrance smiles, and shakes his head.

"I'm too old for them William…Most of them still have a little life left in them…" he leans on the banister with William. Finnick has Annie in his arms as the band plays a particularly slow tune. Ron is holding some girl, a blond one. Terrance and William stare at their children for a long time before William speaks.

"The Capitol has taken a lot from us all…" William mutters. Terrance looks at him, then back at the kids.

"We've suffered a lot, you and I…our wives…and their mothers…" he says. William nods.

"How have we done this for years…" William asks, "How have we acted like nothing was wrong? This is the ninth d*mn party I've held. And I watched my wife, your wife, and eighteen other spouses hung! And our children are now just broken shells still wandering this District…how do we do this?" Terrance shakes his head.

"Maybe I do need to go dance with one of those girls…and at least act like I'm living my life…" Terrance starts back down the stairs, and William turns toward the window, where the dark, powerful, and roaring sea is beyond the window.

"And maybe…I need to try to get my life back…" he says. Then his thoughts are interrupted as a familiar song comes on, slow and sad. It's very old, from the first days when the sea was just starting to rise. It starts with the word, "California," the name of the state which became District Four and some of District Five. But despite the chipper tone of the opening, its words speak to a dark melody about the humans who were so focused on battle, they ignored the sea's arrival.

_Come on, come on, come on up,_

_To California's shore_

_Come on_, _come on, come on up,_

_We're ready to go to war_

_Go down, go down, to the sea_

_Where our enemy's bodies float away_.

_Go down, go down, to the sea,_

_This is the West Coast warrior way._

_The sea, the sea, it comes for us,_

_We must not let them win._

_The sea, the sea, it comes for us,_

_And now we must go fight again._

_Come on, come on, come on up,_

_And let the blue sea clear our dead._

_Come on_, _come on, come on up,_

_And let its untouched waters spread._

_Come on, come on, come on up,_

_We're fighting for our shore._

_Come on_, _come on, come on up,_

_We're ready to go to war._

As the last notes on the piano are pressed, the room is silent, and the notes hang in the air. William looks at the musicians. _"Why in the hell are they playing that? At a party like this?"_

The singer kisses her middle three fingers, and thrust them in the air. The piano player starts on the melody, four notes, which leads William to start pulling out hair.

"No, not here…" The piano playing is backed up by whistles, and soon a large part of the crowd is whistling, singing, or humming the notes, in a total defiance of the Capitol. William goes to look at the crowd from the banister, and Finnick grabs hold of him angrily. Annie is still attached to his hand, but he is clearly not very focused on her.

"What is this, some kind of sick joke?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing! So, did you and that District Three mentor, Betred, or Bernard whoever decide to start revolts in your own Districts?"

"I…I didn't plan this! You're the one who decided to keep her alive!"

"And you helped me do it. But our small act of defiance is over…I'm dispersing this crowd…" William turns and calls for a weapon from his servants, but before he can wield it, he sees the purple man, golden tattooed and eyelashed, standing in the crowd, waving. William's and Finnick's eyes grown wide, and they look at each other, then back at the man, who has begun up the stairs.

"Scipio…" William says, as the man approaches.

"You all know how to have a party here is District Four!" he says, smiling to reveal perfectly white teeth.

"Yeah…well…"

"Technically, you're crashing this party…" Finnick says, crossing his arms. He's a little shaky, but putting on a brave face. He has also put Annie into a large cushioned chair, and she appears stable, at least, as far as William can tell.

"I know…and I'm so sorry. But I just had to see you two together…" he turns back to the crowd, which has stopped whistling and is staring at him. They no doubt recognize him as a Capitol man, and some start murmuring among themselves.

"Don't stop! You know the tune…" Scipio goes to the piano and starts _California, _again, but this time, he does it to the melody of Rue's song. The words don't blend perfectly, but they fit well enough on the notes, and eventually, the singer goes with him, and soon the crowd is singing it together. Even Finnick and William are singing it after the second verse, and as the crowd ends on the final "_We're ready to go to war," _Scipio applauds the group, and looks back to William.

"Wonderful! Just fantastic!"

"I agree…would you…like to speak somewhere private…" William says, trying his best to maintain a cold demeanor. Scipio smiles and nods.

"Oh, I would like that very much. We have quite a bit to talk about, William Odair…" Scipio pauses, and turns to Finnick, "and of course you wouldn't consider not including your son…"

"Apparently not…" William mutters. He tries to wrap his brain around what happened just a moment ago, and leans in toward Finnick as Mica shows Scipio toward William's second floor private sitting room.

"Did that man just invent a way for us to sing that rebel song secretly?"

"Father, the only thing I know about him is that his true motives are unclear…" Finnick says, as he follows William. William turns just before he leaves to the room and turns back to the band.

"What are you doing? I paid you a fortune, give these people a show!" he says, mocking the Capitol accent and jumping to soprano on "show." The band goes back to playing and William and Finnick are left with this strange Capitol man, who is very pompous, very bombastic, and very ridiculous, but also, very dangerous.


	9. Part 1: Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Alright, so, since I'm abroad, I will probably update once a week from now on, maybe more often later. But I hope you enjoy. Review!

* * *

William and Mica lead Scipio and Finnick through the enormous house. They go toward the back sitting room, where they would have some privacy, but before they can make it, Scipio turns into William's library.

"Oh, wonderful! Look at this mass of works…" Scipio runs his fingers across the many different books. He stops over the ten volume _History of the Dark Days, _and looks at it happily. William waves Mica away, leaving him with Finnick and Scipio.

"Of course. Every library with more than twenty novels must have a copy of these…" Scipio turns and sees _The Birth of Panem, _on the other side, "And one of those. But I see some things here which may be a little less known."

"I assure you, every book in here is Capitol approved…" William says. Finnick grabs his arms, and calms his father's trembling.

"Of course…but some in here are frowned upon…like this…" Scipio holds up a large _The War of Rebellion._

"That's not about the Dark Days…" Finnick says, "I used to look at it all the time. That's about something called the American Civil War, which happened apparently in what is now Panem."

"Mainly District nine, eleven, twelve, and thirteen" Scipio says, opening the book, "But anything that speaks of a rebellion not issued by the Capitol is rarely smiled upon," Scipio puts it back and William pipes up.

"I'm sure you're enjoying looking at my collection, but I assume you've come for a more pressing matter."

"Oh, of course, but the subtitles of life are important…" Scipio says, continuing to peruse the books, "Ah! One of my favorites, _Animal Farm!" _Scipio holds it in his hand. It's a small book with a standing pig on its cover, but William actually doesn't know much about it. While he's collected a lot of books for the library, he hasn't read all of them, and that one is a mystery to him.

"Ah…yes…I…"

"Of course it is. It's about how a rebellion turns into a dictatorship. And shows we're incapable of properly ruling ourselves," Finnick says.

"That is one interpretation. But it could also been seen in another light," Scipio says, going to the other side of the library. He grabs a ladder and lines it up with the shelf where the _Birth of Panem _is. "Have you ever read this whole series_?_"

"No, who could? It starts with a history of every prominent family of the Capitol. It's about the driest thing I've ever tried to look at," Finnick says. William can honestly agrees with this, the small hints about Pre-Panem North America's history are not worth the effort it takes to get past the extensive background it gives especially to the Trinkets, Snows, and the Templesmiths.

"Yes, it is quite buried. You know it is required reading for Capitol Children these days, at least, the parts on President Snow's family are? Anyway…" Scipio grabs the fourth novel, and drops it on a table. William and Finnick look at each other, then at the book. Most people can't get past volume two. Was that the secret? That the real history was buried deep in the later books? Scipio opens it up and flips to a page, and points to it.

"That name look familiar?" Scipio asks. William and Finnick draw back as they see Odair, the name of their family.

"There isn't much in here on your ancestors, but once you get to the lesser known names, you get a little more of the good stuff on Panem's history…" Scipio picks up the work and starts reading, "And so, when Panem, the blessed land of the remnant people of earth, rose from the ashes of the Warring States, California, the nation of the west coast, was known then as District Four, and, its capital renamed Area One, and it submitted to the Capitol's influence. It was given as mayor Yianni Odair…and so on and forth with his works…Yianni's grandson, Paul Odair, and his son, Grover Odair, were named mayor until the Dark Days began…yada, yada, yada…Ah ha, and so, when the rebel Lipzt Coin of District Thirteen, declared that Capitol was treating its allies as inferior and secondary, Lawerence Laiter, mayor of District Three, Oliver Odair mayor of District Four, and Madeline Mason, of District Seven, joined him in revolt, but all three were killed by Fripitious Snow in his effort to defeat both the rebels and seize control of the Capitol. Once District Thirteen was destroyed, a new mayor, Fipitious Snow's grandnephew Bartholemew Craven was appointed mayor over District Four, and the line of Odair doomed to service to the Capitol," Scipio marks the book's page, closes it, and then looks back at Finnick and William, who are speechless. Scipio smiles.

"Just in case you want to read it again…"

"Snow…Odairs…we… ruled Four but…"

"Snow's grandfather kicked us out…I'll bet he said he was going to join the rebels and then betrayed them and sided the Capitol, like Napolean, that damned pig! He betrayed the rebels!" Finnick yells. He stops when he recalls that Scipio is a Capitol official, though William suspects he's just as confused about Scipio's intentions.

"People's history is just fascinating, isn't it…Now, to the business at hand," Scipio says, making an abrupt turn. "Katniss was not supposed to live. Nor really was Peeta. Cato would have just been another victor, and would have been bloodthirsty and cruel, like so many District Two winners. But instead, District Twelve has two victors, and now they are a symbol to use for revolution. But don't fear, President Snow is already concocting a rather extensive plan to kill Katniss. And when she dies, District Four will be punished. But when she comes here for the Victory Tour, I wouldn't try to protect her, as you did for the games. No, that will only bring even more punishment upon the District."

"And while she's still alive? What should we do?" William asks.

"Tread carefully. But frankly, you can do whatever you want, as long as you don't draw the ire of the Capitol. Or at least, too much ire. After the tour, I'd start to says some prayers, what follows next isn't going to be pretty." Scipio starts to go, but William isn't done with this man. He moves suddenly, in an act he would likely scold Finnick severely for, grabs Scipio and hold the man against a wall.

"Let me make something clear…I don't know who you are, or what you are trying to do, but you don't intimidate or scare me, Scipio," William says, spitting the name. Scipio smiles slyly.

"As well you shouldn't. I told you already, your life is not at danger. And neither is your son's. And as long as you aren't stupid and don't cross me directly, you won't ever be threatened. Both of you are just far too useful to the Capitol, and me, now," Scipio says. William is sickened by his comment, but slowly releases the pressure and lets the man go.

"Now…if you will excuse me…" Scipio says, adjusting his purple wig and dusting off his purple suit, "I have business in District Three with a Victor, Bernard maybe? Anyway, it's always a pleasure to see the Odairs," Scipio leaves, Finnick and William alone in the room. The Victor and his father are unable to speak for a long time, and then William shakes his head.

"I think Scipio just told us to rebel, but not too much…" William surmises.

"And he said don't do it until the end of the Victory Tour…" Finnick adds.

* * *

When Finnick awakes, it's to the sound of heavy raindrops. He is at first confused; it's not his room. It's a soft blue, there is an open balcony to his right, and the room is bright from sunlight. Finnick thrusts his hand out, and finds the warm body of Annie next to him. She's breathing softly, and appears quite peaceful. Finnick's hand instinctively moves some of her hair out of the way, revealing her gorgeous face. Behind her beauty is great sorrow, great fear, instability, but, for now, she seems nothing but harmonious. His thoughts wander as he gives her a kiss on the head, then he leaves the bed. He stretches and goes to the balcony. As he looks out at the heavy rain dripping onto the balcony railing, the events of last night hit him, and he falls onto his rear end.

"Oh no…What are we going to do…" Finnick uses the railing to lift himself up, and through the rain, he can see a large pack of children run past. They are panting and moving rather quickly, and Finnick knows immediately who they are.

"School's back in session I see…nothing to do yet…but try and keep more District Four children alive…" Finnick says, going back into the room. He showers and dresses himself in a tight shirt, loose pants, a light, hooded jacket, and running shoes. He gives Annie another kiss, leaving her to her dreams, then turns and goes out of the home. Finnick zips up the jacket and pulls on his hood, and turns to find Jarrok is locking up his house across from him.

"Jarrok, off to class?" Finnick asks.

"Yes, well, someone has to teach Logistics. Not everyone from the Academy can be a tribute…" Jarrok says, tightening his military jacket around himself with his good arm. Jarrok's facial hair seems perfectly fixed and trimmed, and he looks almost like a store model as he hobbles down his steps and starts walking toward the Academy, seemingly uncaring about the rain. Finnick does a few jumps then goes down the steps quickly and starts running.

"I'll see you at school, Jarrok!" Finnick says, racing past the slow moving man. Finnick does two laps around the Victors Village and his father's house, reliving moments from the previous night as he does, then takes a long, circuitous route toward _Tribute Academy. _When he makes it to the building, he finds Ron standing over the steps in the increasing rain, his arms crossed, also uncaring about getting soaked. He is clearly quite distracted, as Finnick has to grab his arm to get his attention.

"Ron…"

"Oh Finnick, hello. Sorry…just thinking…about tributes of course…" Ron says. Finnick hadn't told anyone what exactly what had conspired between Scipio, his father, and himself last night, but he'd given a short version to Ron. Finnick suspects there is something deeper in Ron's thoughts though, probably about the Hunger Games in general, not just the issues they had with the last one.

"Nothing to do, worrying about it now. I'm back, you're here, and we have a job to do. Let's work on getting these tributes as ready as possible for whatever the Quarter Quell holds…" Finnick trails off, then looks at the kids who are arriving. The older ones, mostly sixteen and seventeen, always get back first. All of these ones are panting hard and some appear quite sick. Finnick goes to the first one, a large, seventeen year old boy, and socks him right across the face. The kid collapses back, and Finnick goes to the next one, a smaller, probably sixteen year old girl. He's hit almost ten of the kids, when finally, a particularly fast fifteen year old ducks Finnick's attack. Finnick smiles, swings his fist again, which the kid is able to dodge, but he is not able to avoid Finnick's knee to his gut, which knocks him to the ground.

"You guys think that just because you outrun the first round of other tributes that you're safe. Get up! And try not to be hit…" Finnick grunts. He hears one of the kids running up behind him and wheels around to punch him. The boy, who is probably twelve, takes the fist hard across his face and falls to the ground unconscious. Finnick drops down and grabs him.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" he says, trying to pull the boy back to his feet, but he's out cold; Finnick knows he landed a good hit.

"Jez, Finnick, you come back and already finishing off potential tributes…" Ron says, smiling, "I don't think that kid is destined for a win at fourteen…"

"I could have figured that out without knocking him senseless…" Finnick groans, waving his hand over the kid, who is still unmoving.

"Good grief…" Jarrok mutters. He's just come from the road and has stopped over the kid, "How did I do all this before you two?"

"It was surely less efficient. But I remember getting socked by you once…"

"Somebody get him some help!" Finnick yells. Ron comes down the steps and listens to the boy's chest. Apparently satisfied, he slaps the kid hard across his face. The boy jumps up and starts scrambling away.

"Come on Finnick, relax," Ron says. He turns to the group, "Shower up everyone, and meet us in the gym in ten. Hurry up, we have limited hot water today!" The kids drag themselves toward the gym. Ron turns to Finnick.

"Are you alright? You seem quite tense..."

"Are you alright? What's with the nonchalance?"

"You are dealing with the stress of that Capitol official appearing at the party yesterday in your own way. Just like we all deal with watching our tributes die in different ways, so to do we deal with stressful situations…" Jarrok says, adjusting his clothes and going slowly up the steps. Ron and Finnick watch him go, then start toward the main gym themselves.

"Something is wrong is Jarrok…" Finnick mutters.

"You're right, but he's right too. Perhaps I'm being a tad nonchalant. And you are clearly on edge."

"Well, as you might expect rebellion…doesn't bring happy thoughts to my head…" Finnick says, then covers his mouth. But it doesn't actually matter. Cameras aren't allowed within a half-mile of the academy anyway. Ron gives him a knowing look, then they go into the gym to find the kids messing around, going to the various stations and trying things. _Tribute Academy's_ main gym was modeled off of the training room for the Tributes at the Capitol, and thus was made of about forty odd stations which covered any number of skills: archery, fishing, hand to hand, weights. Ron, whose trade was weapon design, even had a station on weapon manufacture, where the kids learned about forging their own weapons, though everyone at the academy knew that it was for the most part a pointless exercise. Even the smartest of tributes weren't much good at the practice, and the most it's ever done is lead the girl tribute in the 72nd Hunger Games to make her own bow. That was, before she was torn to shreds by a giant, mutation gopher.

"Alright, tributes…get in line by age! Quickly!" Ron yells. The potential tributes pull themselves together. This class of twelve to seventeen year old's has about sixty in it, and is one of four. Because tribute academy is technically illegal, its both very small, and very expensive, leading to only the most capable or wealthy to attend. Ron goes through the line while Finnick watches. Ron forces several students to stand taller and tests some of their muscles.

"Last time we were here…" Ron's voice booms over the group, "we learned about throwing spears and tridents. Mercifully, I have my co-trainer back, so I don't have to go through each of you and make sure you're throwing correctly."

"Yes, now we each only have to go through half of you. Split in half, one half gets the sexiest man in District Four, the other gets…well you know…" Finnick trails off, winking at Ron.

"Don't be so hard on yourself Finnick…" Ron says. The kids laugh, and Finnick sighs.

"Let's see some good throws! Line up!" Finnick and Ron pull out the targets and let the kids line up behind them. Finnck and Ron each take a trident from hanging on the wall.

"Watch me closely," Ron says, raising the trident and flinging it. The three pronged weapon flies straight into the target's center, causing some ohs and ahs. Finnick twirls his, and grinning.

"Of course…that's if you just want to simple…"

"What are you trying to say Odair?" Ron shoots back. Finnick gives his small, simple smile.

"This guy here, I beat him at the exhibition Hunger Games when he was seventeen and I was fourteen. Then I mentored him! I showed him a few of my tricks, and one of those, which you all should know too, is never do anything simple, when you can do it fancy. Observe…" Finnick steps back, then flips and then throws his weapon, but instead of crashing in the center of his target, it goes to Ron's, knocking the other trident from its place and leaving Finnick's perfectly in the center. The kids applaud, and Ron grabs another trident.

"You showed me? By the end of my games, I was teaching you, Odair!" Ron spins and throws, crashing into Finnick's target perfectly. This gets applause too, and Finnick, taking another trident and grins.

"Alright then, Stafford, let's see what you got…" The two showboat for probably ten minutes as the kids just gawk over the two victors' ability. Just as Finnick is about to throw his trident from behind his back and around two of the kids, Librae bursts through the doors of the gymnasium. She was probably teaching the six through eight year olds, but seems frantic, and clearly doesn't have any of them with her.

"Finnick! Ron!" Librae cries. They stop their grandstanding and look at her.

"What is it?" Finnick asks, feeling concern is visible on his face. He looks to Ron and sees he's just as worried.

"Mayor Craven! They're arresting him! If they put someone cruel, like the man is District Eleven, or the woman in District Six…we've got to rescue our Mayor!" Ron rushes to the door. Finnick, however, is not so quick.

"Craven…stole District Four from my family…he is not my friend…" Finnick says darkly. He also says this quietly, as Ron comes back to him looking frustrated.

"What'd you say?"

"Why should we help that pathetic Capitol puppet? He's a nobody who nobody cares about!" Finnick grunts. Ron looks at him hard. Librae is more frantic.

"But, if he's arrested, he'll be killed. And who knows what might replace him…" Finnick and Ron look at each other for a while, then Finnick puts his trident on his back.

"Let's go rescue Craven…" Finnick says, walking calmly toward the door, "Get my father Librae, he'll be able to resolve the situation…peacefully…" Ron watches him go, then turns back to the class.

"Go…spar with each other, practice throwing, do something, as long as you don't waste time. I've got my eye on the Parker brothers back there, I know what you do…." But Finnick's ears register none of this, as he considers gaining vengeance for the wrongs against his family.


	10. Part 1: Chapter 10

Chapter 10

When Finnick and Ron get to the square, the Mayor is tied by his hands to pole, looking out over the crowd. Normally, the man is unremarkable, but, at this moment, he seems brave and determined, and his grey eyes are cold and resolute. Despite this show of fortitude, Finnick is disgruntled with the man and his history, so Craven's show of courage causes more loathing than admiration. Next to the mayor is a Capitol official. These terrible agents were known throughout Panem as inquisitors or hunters. These officials were Capitol citizen commanders of the Peacekeeper corps chiefly interested in maintaining the loyalty and integrity of the people and leaders of the Districts; in particular, they came to the more rebellious districts, Three, Four, Six, Seven, and Eight, and to search out, arrest and probably execute rebel leaders. But Finnick, through the many secrets he's gathered and the knowledge of his father, has never heard of a Capitol official arresting a mayor. The official, who is pierced wildly all over his face, and has a no hair on his head, is looking through the crowd, probably for dissidents. He draws his pistol which sends most in the crowd in retreat.

"The Mayor of District Four is changing. The days of your carefree, unkempt lives are over!" This causes boos and screams. Ron looks at Finnick then starts gruffly shoving people out of the way.

"Move! We have to go! Move!" Finnick and Ron make it to the stage just as the Capitol official points his weapon at the Mayor.

"Stop!" Finnick yells, clambering onto the stage, but one peacekeeper, in the brand new white uniform of a recent Capitol addition, comes forward and smacks Finnick across his beautiful, beautiful face, and sends him back to the ground under the stage. The fall is painful, and Finnick feels like he's been paralyzed for a moment, but at Ron's behest, he pulls himself up, and looks hatefully at the peacekeeper.

"Where was I? Oh yes, now, Mayor Craven, any last words?"

"I got one!" Ron yells, "Get out of my district!" Ron flings his trident backwards. The back of the weapon knocks one peacekeeper onto his back, while Finnick uproots another. Finnick takes the back of his trident and smacks the peacekeeper in the gut leaving him stunned and rolling in pain. Ron gets onto the stage, knocks another peacekeeper off with the force of his body, while Finnick's does a full flourish, kicking another down steps while also slamming the point of the trident into the rope holding the Mayor. He drops to the ground, and Finnick and Ron turn their weapons to the Capitol official, who is holding his pistol high.

"What sort of rebellion is this?" he asks, moving it between the two. He knows he's not in a good place, they are both quite skilled with tridents, and Ron picks his up and holds it back, ready to throw, while Finnick approaches with his weapon forward.

"Let the mayor go…or let us appoint a new one ourselves…" Finnick says. Ron looks at him and lowers his weapon, clearly a little confused with Finnick. Ron raises it again as the pistol points back toward him.

"He has broken the laws of Panem! And for you to select a mayor…why that's downright treasonous…" the official says.

"Wait! Why is the mayor like this?" A voice cries out from the back of the crowd. William frantically moves through the people and goes onto the stage, grabbing Craven. Ron's father Terrance, and Librae are with him, and they look to the official.

"I don't have to explain myself to some laymen…or a victor for that matter!" the official says, the gun going back and forth between Ron and Finnick. But Finnick's too close, and makes a quick move with the trident which causes the pistol to fire harmlessly in the air and smacks the Capitol official hard in the chest. He falls to his knees, but as Finnick raises his weapon, William throws his hand out.

"Wait! Please, we don't want anyone else hurt! Just tell us…why is the Mayor being ousted?"

"Because…" the official starts, obviously feeling a bit outdone, "…he has failed to capture and prosecute two musicians who have clear ties to the rebellion."

"Two musicians…" William says, freezing. Finnick turns to him with concern, and but Terrance steps forward, looking clear headed and strong.

"Those musicians were not rebellion," the official looks up, furious but confused. William chimes in.

"No they weren't. They were in my home. And I assure you, they were not playing in support of any rebellion," William says. Terrance nods and continues.

"If you are referring to the four note song those girls, Rue and Katniss, performed in the games, it is actually part of a commonly known song of District Four."

"What song?" the official says. William smiles.

"_California_…come on Terrance. Finnick, Ron, you know it too." And they start. As the four of them go through it, more and more from the crowd follow the song, adding their voices. In fact, Finnick notices that even the lieutenant peacekeepers, Marcia and Hadrian, who apparently came with his father, start singing it as well. At this, the Capitol official sees his options running low, and turns back to William.

"How…why have I not heard this?"

"You can explain that to President Snow…or better, contact one of his lieutenants, Scipio Mellark, a Capitol official manager I think. He'd be happy recount the song for you, last time he visited our humble district, he was quite familiar," the official's eyes grow wide as he hears Scipio's name. The official continues, but is visibly shaken.

"But…those two still attacked my peacekeepers and me."

"And you attacked our mayor. I'd put it at even. Look, for both of our sakes, why don't you report you found and killed some rebels, and we'll all reaffirm our dedication to the Capitol," William says out toward the crowd. Finnick groans and looks at William.

"We do have another option. We'll hand him over if we can pick our own mayor." William's eyes grow big. He grabs his son's arm and pulls him away.

"Now is not the time for personal family vengeance, boy!"

"Then when is it?"

"I don't know. But ousting Craven won't solve anything. Beside, I'd rather have an easily controlled weakling than someone who could threaten us later." William turns his son toward the recovering official and points.

"Say you're sorry to the man. You meant no offense…" Finnick sighs, then nods.

"Yes, I apologize for the misunderstanding. I assure you, I have one loyalty, and it is to the Capitol," Finnick says this through gritted teeth. Terrance moves in for the rescue.

"Agreed. One panem. Panem today, Panem tomorrow…" Terrance looks to the crowd, which a large number finish, "Panem forever." The official is angry, but clearly, so he gathers his keepers and starts to direct them back.

"I'll…report that the Mayor made a large scale effort and proved his loyalty."

"District Four thanks you…" William says. The man leaves, and William looks to his son, who grabs hold of the mayor the moment the official leaves. Ron raises his trident but Terrance pulls him back, leaving Finnick to show down with the mayor.

"Craven…your family stole this District from ours! You're one of Snow's cronies, a terrible one, but my enemy, nonetheless. This is the last time I save you!" Finnick throws Craven against a pole. The man looks at Finnick and appears bewildered.

"What are you talking about?"

"I know your history, I know your ancestor, Bartholomew, helped betray my ancestor with Snow's grandfather and took control of District Four!"

"Bartholomew? My grandfather didn't rule District Four! He was a shopkeeper in Eight. My grandmother was a mayor's daughter, but the laws of Panem don't allow for mayor's children or descendants to rule a district they managed."

"What…?" Finnick looks at him in confusion. Craven sighs and rolls his eyes.

"My family is one of mayors, yes, but we have not ruled Four before me. Neither of my grandfathers ever left Eight," Finnick looks at the man, then jumps off the stage and races away, back toward his father's house. He assumes his father, Ron, Librae, and perhaps even the rest of District Four are behind him, but he doesn't care. He bursts through the main doors, pushes past Mica, and goes into the library. The book, with its page marked, it still sitting on the table. Finnick opens it to the page, and sees the Odair name, their symbol of a fish, spear, and star, but underneath is a long and dry explanation about ancient military commanders and later mayors of the Warring State of California. It doesn't go beyond the unification of Panem.

"Finnick…" his father calls him softly. Finnick looks up.

"Come here, look at this!" Finnick says, turning the book around. William looks at it, then looks up.

"There was more than one page on our family?"

"No, there was only one. Scipio was making his page up…" Finnick says, trying to sort this out. He is so confused, so lost. The only person he could think of who could solve this is Beetee, but he was on the other side of Panem in District Three. Finnick runs his fingers through his hair, thinking as hard as he can.

"What…he gave other districts, didn't he…What names and districts?" William pauses and thinks, then looks at the book.

"Uh…District Thirteen, Lillia Coin…or something like that…"

"Not helpful…what else…"

"Uh…District Three…Lawrence… Lawrence L something…"

"Lawrence Laiter. Because Lawrence Laiter isn't real. That's Beetee's last name. Oliver Odair was the second…"

"Madeline…Mason I think…from Seven…Is that girl who convinced everyone she was weak…?"

"Johanna Mason. And Fredrigard or whatever Snow is Cornelius Snow…but that he betrays and kills us…what does it mean…"

"Well…if its not the past perhaps it's the future…" William says looking to his side. He does a double take however, and Finnick turns to see Ron and surprisingly his father standing in the door.

"How long have you two been there…?" Finnick demands. They look like two caught school children and start looking around.

"No Finnick no more secrets…they deserve to know. It's time we were honest with each other…" William turns and looks at his son, "All of us…"

* * *

"Wow…all that happened?" Terrance says, clinking the ice around his glass of rum. It's his third one, though William is on his fourth. Finnick, who has gone last, after William and Ron, breathes deeply, looking at his lemonade, then finishes explaining.

"Yes…then after I got past the mutation, I planted a small device on Plutarch's computer which would apparently allow Beetee to download the information on the computer, then I came back to the apartments, got back on the train, and arrived at the funeral."

"D*mn. Did Beetee tell you what the information he got was?" Ron asks. Finnick shakes his head.

"Not yet. Beetee said it would take probably a week to decode it. He promised he'd let me know… somehow."

"Hmm…well, it's been about a week since the Games ended. Maybe he'll contact soon?" Ron says. William smiles.

"You and your little electronic friend."

"He's a super genius, father. He gave me the confidence to fight after the Career pack kicked me out. Though they re-added me once I got a ten in training…"

"Well…I've got far too much to think about…" Terrance mutters, "Is there any other details I'm missing, or should I just try and digest the mess we're in?"

"That's all I've got, but, I'd like to talk to you alone for a moment…" William says pointing at the old man. Terrance looks surprised, then shrugs. Finnick and Ron look at each other, then leave the room. William watches them leave, then returns his attention to Terrance.

"Well…you know we're in a sort of pickle trying to decide whether to rebel or not…" William starts. He breathes deeply, then forces himself to continue, "Nearly nine years ago, we had a plan made…a plan for revolt. The key figures in the plot were found out, but the plot itself was not…" William brings out a chest of terrible memories and sets it on the table. Terrance immediately recognizes the box and pain becomes visible on his face. He downs his rum then adjusts his glasses before responding.

"We need to think hard about this William."

"We both lost a lot in that plot…I know Terrance…"

"We both lost everything, William," the man shoots back, tears appearing in his eyes in a surprising show of emotion. He wipes his eyes quickly and returns to his normal contained manner.

"That of course is untrue…we haven't lost everything. We still have our boys," Terrance says. William looks to the window.

"No…maybe your right…the Capitol has taken them from us too. They are nothing but hateful shells of men…what was I thinking…feeling as though we could rebel again," William's voice becomes shaky, and he looks back at the table. Terrance stands up and puts his hand on William's shoulder.

"You were thinking about the fact that the Capitol has taken everything from us…" Terrance says. Somehow, it seems the two of them switched; he was now convincing William to rebel, "What are they going to do now? They took our children, our wives…what is there left?" Terrance opens the case and pulls out the equipment, a map of the district, pieces representing the peacekeepers and rebel forces, brooms to move the pieces, and pens and pencils to write out the plan.

"But…you know they could do more. Our boys' lives, everyone they know and love, our wealth and fame, even our own necks hanging on a noose could be the result."

"You and I both understand the Capitol is willing to do a lot to keep us loyal. But at this stage, when it seems that people within the Capitol are willing to assist in its destruction, when what we planned to defeat the Capitol is even more so relevant and possible, tell me this, are you still afraid of them?" Terrance asks. William stops and thinks about this.

"Afraid…"

"The Capitol's tactics, soldiers, weapons, they are numerous and overwhelming. But we are dedicated, brave, and frankly, what are we still, but determined. There is little left in us but the will to free ourselves and our children from the terror of the Capitol. Knowing this…are you afraid of them?"

"Terrance…" William feels an answer building up in him. And it feels like a "no."

"Do we have a spark in us, anymore, that would lead us to fight and free ourselves for the sake of our wives? Are we the men we decided we'd be when we made this plan nine years ago? Are we still that determined?" Terrance asks, looking up. William's fear, anguish, and concern, is being overwhelmed by that determination Terrance keeps mentioning.

"No. The Capitol has made and will make many threats. But you're right. I no longer fear the Capitol," William says darkly. Terrance smiles when he hears this.

"I've been waiting a long time for you say those words," Terrance looks down at the map, "we are ready to rebel then. But I must raise a point. This Scipio figure you described sounds awfully shaky. There nothing to suggest he won't turn on you any moment and gain the glory himself and his boss, Plutarch."

"Very true. Which is why he's not calling the shots here. I am. And I'm going to need you and your son's help if I'm going to outdo both Scipio and the Capitol," Terrance wipes his glasses with his shirt.

"Then call the shots. Tell me and Ron what we need to do."

* * *

"Finnick, if we're going to survive this...I think at least your father needs to know about our work… …" Ron murmurs. This is a little out of the blue, so Finnick looks back at him furiously.

"I can't do that Ron! I'd be telling him too much! They'll punish me, us, severely for even talking about between us…" Finnick shoots. Ron shakes his head. He doesn't understand because he only has about a third of the clients. He doesn't know how intensely President Snow monitors Finnick.

"We're considering rebellion! Severe punishment is to be expected…" Ron says, throwing his hands in the air, "You know what this is? This is you not getting over when your father…"

"He abandoned me when my mother died!" Finnick yells. Ron holds his hands out and the man quiets slightly, "He left me to kill myself on alcohol and drugs. And if not for Mags, I'd be dead by now."

"And that has anything to do with right now because?" Ron asks. Finnick is really close to hitting him for this.

"It matters because he abandoned me and left me to die!"

"Eight million dollars in the games is pretty far from abandoning you…" Ron mutters. Finnick actually slaps him for this, which leads Ron to slap him back.

"He spent his fortune to save your life in the games!" Ron yells, "My father did too! It was wrong, it's so far from just or fair, it's disgusting, but it happened, and we're alive. And hating him won't help anybody! It breaks Mags' heart when you insult the man, it breaks Annie's heart!"

"Don't bring her up! You don't know Annie's heart!" Finnick yells. Ron sighs, his tone much calmer.

"You're right, I don't. But you do. And tell me, is this what she wants?" Ron asks. Finnick freezes. His thoughts are racing, split between anger and fear. Anger at Ron, and his father. But fear that Ron is right.

"Secrets aren't going to help anybody right now. If you can't be honest with your father, we're not going to succeed." Ron says, going into his home. Finnick watches him go, then looks to Annie's house down the road.

"…Do I even really know Annie's heart…?" Finnick says. He goes back to his home, fighting tears the whole way, then notices the trident Ron had sent to him in the Capitol sitting in his dining room. Finnick had not left the Capitol with it, nor did he know it was going to be delivered, but there it is, on his couch and with a faint, beeping red light in its center. Finnick, carefully, leans down and examines the weapon and sees in its center there is a small chip. When Finnick touches it, the chip comes out, and a small light on it is blinking.

"Beetee…" Finnick mutters. He looks at the device, then leaves his home and goes to Ron's, hoping that his friend might have more knowledge of technology than he did. When Ron opens the door, he raises his fists, ready for another fight with Finnick. However, Finnick holds his hands out.

"I'm sorry, I was being dumb earlier. But I need to ask you a question…what is this? This was in the trident you designed," Finnick says holding out the chip. Ron looks at it closer, but clearly is stumped.

"I don't know…it was in my trident…wait, how did you get it back from the Capitol…" Finnick shrugs.

"Beetee somehow I think. It just appeared in my sitting room…"

"Then I'd guess that chip was Beetee's doing, but I have no idea. Maybe a computer chip?" Ron says, shrugging too.

"This would plug into a computer?"

"Probably, but I haven't the slightest clue…" Ron says. Finnick looks down, knowing he needs to make things right with the man before him.

"Ron…Let me say…that I'm really sorry…You and I, we're mentor and tribute. You're probably the best friend I've got, and…I'm not very good at showing it…" Finnick says. Ron smiles.

"You did a pretty good job there. Alright, look, you make your own decision about our "work." I'll follow your lead…" Ron says.

"Thank you…" Finnick pats Ron's arm, then turns and goes back toward his house, feeling his friendship saved, and now moving his mind to more pressing matters.


	11. Part 1: Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I got this one done way too fast since the last. Don't get any ideas, probably still gonna be once a week! Please review!

* * *

Finnick tries to push the chip into yet another slot on his computer. It doesn't fit, like every other attempt. Finnick sits back down into the chair and looks at the device. It had been an hour since he'd started trying to use the thing. He assumes it is Beetee who is trying to contact him, but Beetee being much smarter than Finnick, this riddle is far beyond the poor District Four victor's ability.

"What in the world?" Finnick mutters. He throws the device on the computer. He rarely used the machine in his Victor House library. Instead, he usually spent his time looking through the mass of books and novels the library came with. The metal box seems alien to him, and he slaps the thing angrily.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Finnick yells. He hears a footstep, and jumps to his feet, extending his trident from its baton shape. He stands and holds out the weapon toward the library door as Annie comes in, holding Librae's boy, Aiden, in one arm, and Priscilla's hand in the other. Finnick's eyes grow wide, then he puts the trident down quickly and bounces his eyebrows. Annie is stunned, and Finnick, trying to be as smooth as possible, puts his arms out wide.

"What…what…was that for…" Annie sputters. Finnick waltzes toward her and takes her hand.

"Annie…you know how…excited…I get when I see you…" Annie isn't exactly convinced, but Aiden yawns and puts his head into Annie's shoulder, which draws her back to reality. She puts her other arm around him and rubs his back as the boy dozes off. Eventually, she looks at Finnick, still a little shaky.

"Librae is doing some sort of night training with the tributes and Jarrok is leading a conference of food producers in Area Five. We're to be their caretakers for the night…" she says. Finnick smiles and leans down to Priscilla. Something about Librae's children calmed Annie down, and he appreciated their help to keep her in the present.

"Well, sounds good to me. Come here Priscilla, do you want to look at some books…?" Finnick asks. Priscilla nods, and walks past him toward the shelves. Annie takes Aiden to put him to bed while Priscilla takes Finnick around the library.

"I wanna look at the book I saw last time," Priscilla orders. Finnick nudges her.

"Would mama Librae approve if you kept looking at that?"

"Yeah! Its fine!" Priscilla says. Finnick takes down the book, _Champions of the Games, _which gives the background and history of the first through twenty-fifth winner of the Hunger Games. The only reason he had it was because Mags was in it as the eleventh. Priscilla takes the book over to a table and starts murmuring about how she will be as great as some early heroine while Finnick sits back down in front of his computer. He sighs deeply and tries to think about what to do. Apparently, he sighs really deeply, because Priscilla comes over and sits on his lap.

"What are you doing?" she asks. Finnick rubs her head.

"Trying to figure out how to open this chip. My friend from District Three gave it to me, and he is really smart about computers, but I'm not…" Priscilla looks at it, then at Finnick.

"Well, nothing is going to work if the computer isn't even on!" she says, very matter-of-factly. Finnick struggles to form words as she leans across the device and turns it on. She takes the chip from him and points it at the computer, and it immediately it drawn toward one of the plugs and clicks. The computer screen turns to static, then slowly fades to an image of a fuming Beetee.

"What the h*ll Finnick! I've been trying to call you for three hours! Don't you know the first d*mn thing about a computer? All you had to was turn the d*mn thing on! Sh*t!" He says, adjusting his glasses very roughly. Finnick looks at the little girl on his lap and puts his hands over her ears.

"Go…uh…look at the book in the sitting room, Priscilla, tell Aunt Annie I'll be out shortly…" Priscilla probably hears his serious tone, because she quickly takes the book and goes. Finnick turns back to Beetee.

"Don't you have a filter, man?"

"Not with idiots who can't even turn on a computer. The chip is magnetized to go into the right slot. You literally just had to turn it on!" Finnick looks around embarrassed, then turns back at Beetee.

"Well…uh…what did you find from my work?" Finnick says, his eyes darting around the room. Beetee shakes his head.

"This connection is secure, as is your home. The chip wouldn't have worked if other ears were listening. Now, as for what I got from Plutarch's computer, I found absolutely nothing…" Beetee mutters, "You put it on Plutarch's machine all right, but there wasn't anything on the hard drive except for a long list of scandalous murders and betrayals by President Snow. It was really strange. And doesn't help us much with figuring out what Plutarch's plans are."

"What kind of secrets does it have?" Finnick says, drawn back to his work as a prostitute. He considers the secrets he's gotten on Snow, some very, very scandalous things.

"Mostly murders. Some questions on the actual mother of his daughter. And granddaughter for that matter. But mostly about the people he's killed to get where he is." Finnick gets up and goes to his bottom shelf, where his journal of secrets is. He takes it out: a small, leather bound book, and brings it back to the computer and starts flipping through it. Suddenly he remembers Scipio bizarre speech about his ancestors, and thinks he might have drawn a possible connection.

"Beetee…is there someone is the work named Lawrence…" Finnick asks, flipping through his book, "I remember hearing that name before."

"Lawrence? What are you…"

"Just…can you see? I'll look through my secrets too. I know it might take a while since you have to sift through the data but…" Beetee gives Finnick a patronizing look.

"I can do a query Finnick. Give it about two seconds…" Finnick hears a ding, then Beetee presses a few buttons, and a profile is brought up on Finnick's screen.

"One man named Lawrence , an early Capitol businessman and secretary of the treasury who was in a different political party than Snow. His official cause of death was anaphylactic shock, but…"

"What about Oliver…" Beetee types in the search but Finnick remembers it before Beetee can finish. He flips to the page and begins reading his notes.

"Oliver was the vice president in Snow's second administration. Rumor has it that he was slated to succeed Snow at the end of the term. His death, ruled a murder by rebellious ingrates, prompted Snow to start taking emergency powers…" Finnick reads from his book. Beetee nods in ascent. Finnick looks back to his book and starts flipping again.

"Ok…the last name was…Madeline…" Finnick says. Beetee looks at him oddly and then pressing a few buttons, brings up the last screen, a picture of an older woman with salt and pepper colored hair, hazel eyes, a long, droopy face. Other than mascara around her eyes, she wears no make-up, and her cloths seem very simple. Especially for a Capitol official.

"She was a politicia n, who was expected to defeat Snow in the 70AD elections. She…wait…" Finnick is still encapsulated with her image, but Beetee has already moved on and is drawing connections.

"Finnick…look…" the screen switches to have all three profiles on it, and Beetee somehow electronically draws circles on the common data on each one, the last name is Heavensbee.

"Wait…like…Plutarch…"

"Lawrence was his father. Oliver was his uncle…and Madeline…was his wife…" Finnick can barely believe his eyes. Snow murdered all of Plutarch's family. No wonder he was helping them rebel.

"Snow…Snow did…" Finnick opens his book again and start skimming through it. He starts to notice that several last names come up a lot, Heavensbee, Cardew, and Coin.

"Madeline's maiden name was Coin…" Beetee says, "And there were three other Coins killed in a train accident about five years before…"

"The rebels in the Capitol are Snow's political enemies. He's killed their families to make sure they'd be loyal too…" Finnick says, feeling sick. Beetee adjusts his glasses.

"This may well suggest what Plutarch's intentions are. But Finnick, how did you know those names?"

"Scipio gave them to me. In a weird riddle, but he told me…he also told my father and me to rebel."

"Fascinating…Scipio also visited District Three. He instructed me and my estranged cousins to start causing unrest and attack several facilities, but not to raise the ire of the Capitol."

"He did say don't be too rebellious to us too…" Finnick agrees.

"Scipio also mentioned something about three of the districts, Three, Four, and Seven, working in tandem," Beetee says.

"He even mentioned you, me and Johanna's last names when he talked to me." Finnick says.

"Perhaps…he did want us to work together…" Beetee says, rubbing his chin. Finnick shrugs and leans back.

"I don't know that I'm completely behind this whole revolt thing. Seems pretty risky to me…"

"Finnick, discuss this with your father and other victors, but I doubt we're going to have a lot of choice in the matter. Just as with protecting Katniss, we're clearly not in complete control of the situation…" Beetee says, "At some point, it may be best of pawns act like pawns until they can figure a way to get off the chessboard…"

"You know Beetee, I'm getting tired of being a pawn in their games…" Finnick mutters. Beetee smiles.

"Wait till you get to be fifty. Then you'll know what being tired of the Capitol really is. Okay, press the power button on your computer and take out the USB. If you want to contact me again, press the USB hard on its light, then plug it into an _on_ computer. It may take me a little while, but I'll take your calls if you promise to take mine. Now, Laiter out…"

"Odair out…" Finnick mutters, pressing the green button Priscilla had pushed earlier. He leaves the study to see Priscilla looking through the book on the floor of the sitting room while Annie is on the couch, holding a pillow. The rain has returned, and there is a sad, grey mood to the room as the water drips against the window. Finnick leaves the room and curls up next to Annie, watching Priscilla as she hums quietly and flips through the book.

"Everything alright, Finnick…?" Annie asks weakly. He smiles and kisses her forehead.

"One day…it will be…" he looks at Priscilla, that beautiful young blond girl, and pulls Annie closer, "One day, all your fears will be gone, and all my work will end. One day, we will be free."

"How…many?" Annie asks. She always asked this, how many girls he had to pleasure this last Capitol visit. When she normally asked this though, she didn't tend to push too much. And because of this, Finnick always answered.

"Four. But one was for a good cause I'll have you know. Beetee registered Wiress for a night with me too, but I didn't have to go. I'm sure they published quite a story from it…" Finnick says, smiling. Despite not being all that clear, Annie seems satisfied, and leans onto Finnick's shoulder. Finnick puts his arm around her and strokes her face, "We could be parents one day Annie. We could have a beautiful little girl. And a boy, to appease my father of course…" Annie seems a little shocked by this, but Finnick just pulls her closer.

"Two beautiful children, from the two most beautiful people in District Four."

"You and Ron can't have children…" Annie says. She smiles a bit, and Finnick laughs loudly at the joke.

"Please, I'd pick you over him any day…" Finnick says, planting a long kiss on her forehead. The two watch Priscilla as she sings _California _quietly, flipping through the history of those original survivors of the bane of their existence…the Hunger Games.

* * *

"So…that's what Beetee knows…" Finnick says. William, Ron, and Terrance are all baffled. They are again in William's library, and this recent revelation is further mucking up the already murky situation they're in.

"President Snow…killed all those people. I had no idea, from all the contacts I have all over Panem…" William says. Finnick shrugs.

"Beetee mentioned something about him drinking of the same glass as those poisoned but taking antidote. It leaves sores in his mouth though, and that's one of the reasons people around Snow mention he smells like bad perfume and blood."

"How horrifying…" Terrance says, a look of clear disgust on his face.

"Well, we know one thing though…" Ron starts, "that's why Plutarch and Scipio wants Snow dealt with. It's about a bit of vengeance."

"But does that mean we should side with them?" William asks. Finnick nods.

"It is a fair question… I didn't actually see any mention of a Mellark dying to lead Scipio to be out for vengeance as well, though, as I explained to you all earlier; Scipio appeared out of the blue about eight years ago, and doesn't exactly have a lot of family connections."

"Eight years ago...around the time of our crackdown…" Terrance mutters. This gives all four men in the room, sickly looks, but Terrance recovers quickly and continues.

"You know…I may have a bit of insight into what is going on, with all this knowledge of intrigue and murder….you see, during my time at _Tribute Academy, _ages ago when I was no match for those boys who went on to die in the games, since I never had any chance of being a tribute, I decided to spend my time studying government." Terrance says, getting up and grabbing a book from the library called _History of the Ancient World._

"What in the name of God does this have to do with anything, dad?" Ron asks. Terrance smiles.

"I think I may be able to discern Plutarch's goals. They don't exactly teach comparative government in schools since there is only one known government left to exist, and Panem doesn't want people considering anything else as a viable. But, by looking through history, which the Capitol allows, I've discovered what in general the shape of human governance is. First and foremost, what we live under is something called Hegemony." Terrance says, pointing to the word in the book next to a city called Athens, "The Capitol, a powerful central state, controls other states, the Districts, which submit to its authority." Terrance flips a few pages and brings up a state called the Late Roman Republic, "Each district is run as a Dictatorship. A mayor, appointed from the Capitol, runs each district with an iron fist, though some are kinder than others, they all have absolute authority over their District." Terrance flips back to Athens, and points, "But the Capitol itself is a Democracy, or supposed to be. That is, all Capitol citizens have the right to vote on who governs and manages them. But…" Terrance turns back to a page with the picture of a large man on a horse with large helmet marked with red fur leading a parade. "If as you suggest, Snow has killed and subverted the others in the Capitol to prevent the rise of any other enemy, then as you said, our President Snow is actually a dictator, or maybe better, an emperor, who rules over all the people of Panem through absolute submission." Finnick's head is spinning again, but William seems to get it clearly.

"So…what you're suggesting is…Plutarch wants to take the Capitol back to a…democracy? Or whatever you called the system where the people can vote."

"That may be his goal. In fact, it could be taken even further. Plutarch may well see that there is no answer to defeating Snow than getting the Districts out from under the Capitol's power."

"Be careful father. You're very optimistic…" Ron says, "Plutarch has shared every single detail we've garnered here. There is no evidence to suggest he actually wants to do this except what he's told us."

"Very true…" William says, "But, now that we have this knowledge, what shall we do?"

"Let's reflect on that and meet back…" Terrance says, picking up the book, "I'd like to do a little more research on what might be the historical precedent for this…" Finnick goes to a shelf and pulls out _Animal Farm, _and hands it to the man.

"Scipio mentioned using this. It might be useful in your studies."

"Oh, of course, as you told me…" Terrance says, looking at it, "I never read this one. I might be presently surprised…" Terrance goes out, holding his two books. Ron nods to William and leaves, and Finnick and him are left alone.

"Do you have anything else, Finnick?" William says. Finnick only then notices he's just standing still, and he quickly shakes his head.

"No…wait yes…I do…but…I don't know if I can tell you…" Finnick blurts. William sighs and takes a seat in the library.

"I would say you can trust me, but only you can make that decision. So what I'll say instead, is I'll respect whatever decision you make…" William says, leaning back in his chair, "Finnick…" William closes his eyes and apparently visits the past, "But let me tell you this. No matter how hard this gets, no matter how old either of us are, no matter what it seems or seemed like, and no matter what you do…I want you to know that I still love you as that little boy, who promised all those years ago to win the Hunger Games for me. The boy who promised he'd be my champion…" William opens his eyes and smiles. Finnick feels a nagging itch to both tell the man and punch him, but he fights off both and walks out, arguing with himself.

"What the h*ll was that…he didn't love me. Not when she was gone…he didn't…it doesn't matter, I can't tell him, I'll get him, myself, Annie, Ron, and everyone else killed….But if I don't…how…why does he trust me, if I don't trust him? I want to get over this hatred of him, for abandoning me after she died, but…it was my fault. And he deserves to know what killed his wife! And my mom! The Capitol…" Finnick stops in the middle of the road going through the Victor's Village, and falls to his knees.

"The Capitol…killed my mom…I killed my mom. And now…my this whole thing with Scipio and Plutarch is going to kill my father…my dad…" Finnick looks down, now murmuring not to himself, but to his deceased mother.

"What…should I do…Mom…I need you…Dad…isn't safe….Mom, help me…please…don't go….don't let them take you…" Finnick collapses into the fetal position and starts crying.

"Mom…(sniff)…I miss you…so much…Annie…don't die like her…I'll turn bitter and hateful like him…oh mom…help me protect him…" Rain starts to fall and Finnick slips out of consciousness…still begging for his mother's help.


	12. Part 1: Chapter 12

Chapter 12

This is the end of Part One. Thanks to meksters for you reviews and follow, anon for the reviews, and chocolatechipcookielover for the reviews, follow, favorite, and bigdog666 for the favorite and follow, and Jenn's Fics for the follow. Continue to review, and stick around, there are at least two more parts coming.

* * *

Finnick is in his mother's arms, caressed by her lips and hands, running up and down his face. He's smiling, and her face, so wonderful, so warm, and so beautiful. Her blond hair touches his face and he grabs for it; in that moment, he's maybe six. The warm dream fades, and Finnick is chilled by the air, but is dry, under some makeshift tent. It is not his mother who is caressing him, but Mags, who puts a finger over Finnick's mouth and kisses him on the head. He's drawn back in, and comforted by the nearness of the woman who would do anything for him. She takes his hand and squeezes it, smiling. He can't help but smile back, and they exchange no words for a long time. Then Finnick feels something swelling in him, looking at this woman, this broken sad woman, who has to comfort this equally broken crying man out in the street. Its hatred. But this hatred isn't at his father, or any person really. Its at the Capitol. Those monsters, who took everything from him. It wasn't Finnick who killed his mother. It was the Capitol who killed her. It wasn't his father who "let" him become suicidal and crazed. The Capitol made him that way, and probably his father to, and then what were they supposed to do? The Capitol…they had the games that ruined him. The Capitol…they sold him like a tool to masses of women. The Capitol was always the enemy. It just took till now to remember who the real enemy was.

"Mags…I have to tell my father about it…" he says suddenly. This is out of context, and in general wouldn't make sense, but Mags seems to understand. She smiles and nods.

"You've grown up Finnick…you finally understand…" Mags says. Finnick smiles and gives her a long kiss on her cheek, then jumps to his feet and turns to his father's home.

"I do. I know now what you've always tried to tell me…" Finnick says.

"Remember who the real enemy is…" Mags says, gingerly getting to her feet. Finnick nods, and rushes toward the home, bursts through the door and finds his father in the library, standing over a map of the District covered in chess pieces. William looks up from it and seems surprised.

"Finnick…I…had not thought you'd be back…"

"Father…I've decided to tell you, sit down," his father looks down at the pieces, then back up.

"I actually decided to tell you something too, but you may go first." Finnick sighs, then puts his hands on the table. He tries to think the best way to start.

"You…know about my trade…" Finnick starts. William maintains an emotionless look as the boy continues, "Well…it's not a trade. I don't sleep with those women because I want to. I'm…the…Snow…makes me do it. I'm a prostitute; I'm his sex slave. People pay him, and I'm sold like a piece of meat!" Finnick says angrily. This seems to shock his father, but other than his clearly disturbed expression, he doesn't move.

"You're…Ron too…?" William asks. Finnick looks at him, and nods.

"And Librae when she was younger. And Mags too. Jarrok got out because his hand makes him ugly and Annie is too unstable to make anyone happy," Finnick says. William looks down, clearly a bit angry himself.

"How could I have not seen this? How could I have not sensed it…When did they start selling you…wait…let me guess…eight years ago…" William says. Finnick's jaw drops and he starts stammering, tears slipping down his face and his worst fears realized.

"No…father…I didn't mean…I didn't mean to kill her…I didn't…they…they didn't tell me…" his father gets up and hugs Finnick, which quiets him down. His father doesn't say anything, but this show of affection slows Finnick's breath, and stops his tears. Once Finnick recovers, William lets go and turns to the map.

"Yours isn't the only trade the Capitol punishes by killing loved ones…and all this time…I just assume you blamed me for it…" It's now Finnick's turn to be shocked.

"What…why?"

"Because…" Tears now start in William's eyes, "According to public records, Iliana was executed on the charge of treason against Panem. But she didn't do anything…I did…" William says softly, "I was planning a large revolt after I saw how you and Ron suffered in the games. Ron's father was my main conspirator. But, they got wind of the plot, and instead of killing us, they killed out spouses…" Finnick can't say anything. He simply looks down. His mother died to quell his father's revolt and enslave him. Snow captured both men with the death of the woman they'd both loved so closely. What a perfect and horrifying calculation of the monstrous Capitol leaders. Finnick's hatred grows even more vicious, and he grabs the _History of Panem_ on the table and flings it across the room. William doesn't even look up as the book crashes into a vase.

"This was my plan back then. I buried it, planning to burn it, but I've never had the courage…" William says. Finnick looks at it and sees its quite well marked, and seemed incredibly well planned. Finnick glances at William, furious.

"They did this! The Capitol! They…" Finnick stops and thinks for a moment, then looks back at his father.

"How much did money did the Capitol take from you to save me in the games? How much did that trident cost?"

"What? Where is this coming from?" William asks, confused.

"Answer the question! They stopped reporting how much the gifts were costing halfway through. But Ron calculated it out to be roughly eight million. Is that true?"

"At least. I stopped checking the bank account. But Iliana was so enraged with the whole situation that she made me stop after the trident…There were other sponsors of course, but nothing like what people assumed happened." Finnick looks away, then back at his father.

"You shouldn't have bought my life in the Games like that. You shouldn't have given that to the Capitol. The Capitol didn't deserve it, and neither did I."

"When I wanted to save you Finnick, I didn't give a d*mn about who deserved what or whether the money was going for good or evil! The only thing I cared about was you, and I would do anything to save you. Anything."

"Dad…" Finnick starts to tear up, "Then…why did you abandon me…If you'd do anything…"

"It won't help you to hear…" William says, shaking his head, "But I turned into a suicidal drunkard like you did. I turned away from the world, because I felt like I'd lost everything when they killed your mother. By the time I recovered, I was too late. You already hated me, and some terrible part of me hated you for hating me. I regret what I did and what happened, but that doesn't help. I've apologized, and I'll apologize again, but I don't think that will help either. I'm sorry I thought my life was over when she died. I…I'm sorry…" William says.

"Father…"

"After I regained my senses, and Mags had become your pseudo-guardian, I felt fear, real fear, because I knew I couldn't survive your death too. If you died, my life would be over, and so…to protect you…I tried everything to stop rebellion in the district so that I didn't lose you too. But now…with Scipio…he hasn't given me any option…I don't know Finnick; I'm so afraid…" William puts his head in his hands, but Finnick pulls his arms away, and helps the man stand.

"You were protecting me…" Finnick says. William looks up, and nods. Finnick shakes his head. William looks at him for a moment, then draws a quick breath.

"All this time…you thought you were protecting me too. You let yourself be sold to keep me alive. You really were my champion, all this time…" Finnick smiles and puts his hand on his father's arm.

"We don't have to hide it anymore father. We'll protect each other the right way. We are going to make a promise to one another. We're not going to let the Capitol control us any longer. They are our enemies. The Capitol!" William looks at him sadly, but nods. Finnick continues, "Scipio wants us to rebel, then fine, we'll do it. We're going to live in a free District Four, or die trying to achieve it. And we're going to do this together, so that if one dies, the other doesn't have to suffer the…" Finnick trails off, but William puts his hand on Finnick's shoulder.

"We're going to free District Four together…" William agrees. He sighs deeply then squeezes the shoulder.

"Let me ask you something…if you are a prostitute, did that me you got to at least make money?"

"Oh, I can get money, and I did at first, but there is no reason for it. Being the son of the richest man in Four and a victor, its really not much use. But I do make it worthwhile..." Finnick says, slipping back into his suggestive tone and bouncing his eyebrows. This really confuses his father after their dramatic and serious talk.

"With what…"

"Secrets. Tales, tidbits, and knowledge about the dark underworld of the Capitol," William's face shows the slightest hint of astonishment.

"Ah…that's how you knew so much about Snow's past. You must have worked with Beetee, and he knows...well I assume Beetee knows. Ron likely knows if he's sold too. Annie and Mags…"

"All victors know, because we about half of us have to do it at some point or another. Johanna, brave, unstoppable Johanna, refused to be sold…and Snow killed everyone she ever loved. "

"That's…that's awful…Finnick…I'm…sorry I…" William stutters. Finnick pats the man's back.

"Look. I'm not your enemy, you're not me. We're on the same side now. And there is a phrase Mags used to tell me all the time. A phrase you should hold on to."

"What's that?" William asks.

"Remember who the real enemy is…" Finnick says ominously.

* * *

"Beetee…" Finnick says, tapping the static screen. Ron is standing beside him, and William and Terrance are in the room as well. Ron looks down at the wiring of the computer, then comes back up.

"Everything seems to be functioning here…" Ron mutters. Finnick looks at him incensed.

"What, does everyone know about computers except me?"

"No…" Finnick hears from the screen. He looks back to see Beetee appear, "Johanna is equally inept. But somehow, I've explained to her and Blight how to appear in this conference call…" Beetee says. The screen cuts in half, and Johanna's eyeball, very close to the camera appears. On the other side is Beetee, sitting at a desk with probably four other people behind him. One Finnick recognizes as Wiress.

"Hello?" Johanna yells, "How the h*ll does this thing work?"

"It works just fine…" Beetee says, rolling his eyes, "back up from the camera, we need to get started, Johanna…" the woman backs up and only the lower half of her head is visible. Her chest is also visible, and Ron and Finnick stare at it for a while before Beetee clears his throat.

"Are we getting to the business, or what?"

"Oh, ahem, of course…" Finnick says, looking back to Beetee. The District Three victor frowns and looks at his screen.

"I'd like to call to order the first meeting of the Mockingjay Rebel Commander Corps. This force is tasked with the complete and total liberation of District Three, Four, and Seven." There are murmurs of agreement. Finnick smiles and leans back.

"Now…" he starts, "As Victor co-commander…" Finnick looks at Ron, "of District Four, I'll start us off with the hard question. How shall three Districts of three distinct geographies and populations liberate themselves in a, hopefully, successful fashion?"

* * *

"Now…the last thing on the agenda is that the best hope for our success is the coordinating out attacks. We've hammered out many things about our plans, but we still haven't quite yet figured out either what order of these three districts should rebel or when specifically we should do it. It is essential we all start rebelling at once. The further drained the Capitol is when we make our attack the better…" Beetee says. Blight, who is now sitting at the computer, nods in assent.

"Yes. I agree. We have to work together, or the rebellion in Seven will be quickly ended. We aren't as wealthy or well off as you in Three and definitely not like you careers in Four."

"Actually, they're even richer than is reported…" Beetee mutters, "Because they have a volunteering system for the Hunger Games, their people can take tesserae with no fear. In One and Two, the stigma is so high on the process that most people would rather starve than take it. And in Five there is no career system, so the fear of dying limits that tesserae. But based on total goods produced last year, Four is only marginally poorer than One."

"That's…not exactly our fault…" William mutters, looking for support from those behind him. Ron and his father are in chairs near the computer both snoring. Finnick is lying across a lounge chair and clearly bored out of his mind.

"Well, then I only suppose you all should bear the brunt of the attacks. You can go first," Blight says. William rolls his eyes and points at Beetee.

"Beetee's district has the highest population of the three of us. You've got nearly the same amount as the two of us combined." William says. Beetee waves him away.

"We're small little technicians, not big strong axemen. Besides, you all in Seven have the ability to hide out in your enormously sized district! You should go first."

"We are getting nowhere Beetee!" Finnick yells from behind William. William looks back at him, then turns around and nods.

"Yes, we should perhaps not consider that any district deserves the brunt," William says.

"Fine by me. But we still need a date for the rebellion," Beetee says, "Scipio wanted us to wait until Katniss's tour is over. And there is some logic in that. Rebelling while the tour is going on will bring on a great deal of ire for the Capitol. Interrupting their show isn't going to make us any friends…"

"That's true…" Blight says, "The Capitol is willing to do anything to keep the Hunger Games, and by extension the Victory Tour going."

"The Capitol will probably bomb us into submission as soon as we start anyway…" William says, turning, then he leans forward, an idea growing in his head, "Unless they don't want to interrupt their tour."

"What are you suggesting?" Beetee asks.

"What if we let Katniss pass our respective Districts, then begin the revolt. The Capitol would be so consumed with their show, they wouldn't be able to respond to the attacks."

"And they would lack troops and hovercraft…they'd need them for the Capitol festivities!" Blight says. Beetee touches his chin.

"Except this only gives District Three three or maybe four days to act. And you would only have four or five, Odairs."

"Don't worry…" William says, "we have a plan for once they come." Suddenly Blight is pushed out of the way and Johanna's eyeball overwhelms the screen again.

"Wait! District Seven has to go first then. And we'll bear the brunt."

"Only for two days at most…" Beetee says, "Besides, the Capitol will probably be in the middle of preparing and constructing the festivities for the final event in the city. As William suggested, I doubt they'll have much time to deal with a District Seven revolt." Johanna growls, then waves him away. Beetee turns back to William.

"Then it's settled. Strike key points during the tour, and prepare for the Capitol's revenge after. Now, as William Odair got wind of somehow, a full 11 district crackdown is coming exactly one month after the tour. Only 2 is excluded. This implies that the Capitol is ready for a rebellion. But not just yet. And we shall takes advantage of this. For the sake of our safety and the security of this form of communication, we must maintain radio silence unless absolutely necessary. Together the Mockingjay Rebel Commander Corps can succeed but only if we work as planned. Agreed?" There is a general murmur of agreement from the group and Beetee presses a few buttons, "So be it. Good luck, all of you!" Beetee kisses three fingers and puts them up. William and Blight do the same. Johanna waves the man away and apparently leaves, as there is the sound of a door slamming. Beetee presses a few more buttons and the screen goes dark. William turns around to Finnick, who is still staring at the ceiling.

"You know what we're doing?"

"So as to avoid Ron or I getting called back to Capitol to be prostituted, he and I are to use Marcia's lieutenants to seize the Area Three and Five train station during the Victory Tour then work to cause general unrest," Ron wakes up upon hearing his name and looks around as Finnick continues, "And your two will coordinate the effort to capture the Area Two station, forcing any peacekeeper reinforcements to arrive in the Area One station which you some have some genius plan to outdo those reinforcements."

"Very good. And that's okay with you?"

"Yep…" Finnick says, "If nothing else they won't be able to drag me back to that hell-hole city for a couple of weeks. Besides, there are multitudes of beautiful women in Area Five just waiting for me!" Finnick bounces his eyebrows as he says this.

"Of course there are…" William says, pinching his forehead, but he's smiling. He knows Finnick doesn't want to be that way, and but that actually makes William respect his son more. His son was a champion, his champion, and William has a great deal of pride in that. William looks up and nods at his son.

"Well then, we have some work to do. Let's get to it!"


	13. Part 2: Chapter 1

Part 2

The Flames of Rebellion

Chapter 1

"Ladies and gentlemen," Otho, then with rose hair and grey eyelashes, roared over the crowd of people, "With the elimination of Loric, may I introduce the final two potential male tributes from District Four, Ron Stafford and Finnick Odair!" The crowds cheered, but William didn't hear them or really care. He simply watched sadly as his son came into view on the monitor. The final two boys were deep somewhere in Area Six, on a desert arena in the Exhibition Hunger Games, competing to see who would be the male tribute for their District. And William was begging every fate he could think of for his son to lose.

"Well, there is Finnick, and he's got his trident as we saw earlier, but where is Ron?" Otho wondered over his microphone. William wanted to hit that man, but his wife's soothing tone calmed him down. Despite the entire concept of the Exhibition Games being that potential tributes didn't die, he'd seen more than a few badly injured in these practice events. And of course, if his son won, he'd go to the Capital and fight to the death with twenty-three other children, some hulking eighteen year old Careers from One and Two. Finnick was only a fourteen year old boy; even then though, he was amazingly handsome with pulsing muscles, dirty blond curly hair that his mother couldn't do anything with, and his father's small, somewhat blank smile which made girls all over the District swoon.

"Odair!" Ron yelled. He appeared from behind a set of rocks, and his holding a trident as well. At seventeen, he looked already fully grown, deep voiced, manly, and making even Finnick's muscular figure look puny. He twirls his weapon then points it at the sad looking fourteen year old boy, "Just walk away now and you won't be hurt. Try again next year…I'll even mentor you…" Ron said with a supercilious smile.

"No, you back away now, and you won't be humiliated by a fourteen year old. When you go next year, I'll make sure to keep you alive in those games," Finnick responded, holding his weapon in front of him, with the three points facing his opponent. He's got both hands on the weapon, using a stance Mags taught him, while Ron holds his weapon behind him with one hand out, the style of Jarrok.

"Well Odair, then I guess this contest is to see who gets to mentor who."

"I guess so…if you can call it a contest!" Finnick thrusts the trident out and the clang of the two weapons wakes William from his slumber.

"Wha…What's happening?" Another loud clang. William, disoriented, starts to bring the world into focus.

"Are you sure about this Jarrok?" William hears a voice say from behind his door. He's in his sitting room, with a suit for the arrival of the victors. The event was supposed to start at nine am promptly, which made William get up around six getting final preparations together for their arrival. Then District Five delayed, like normal, with some electrical themed party which was no doubt wildly out of hand. So William fell back asleep as he awaited the victors, at least, until something started banging around outside. And now, the clang is followed by a doorbell.

"Mica. The door! I think they're trying to be cute out front!" William yells. This prompts Librae to open the door herself.

"Cute? I haven't been called cute since I was six!"

"Well, always good to hear such compliments again!" Jarrok says. He's wearing an even more ridiculous outfit, a blue one piece with strips of fabric hanging off them which are either supposed to be waves or fins. Librae is much better looking, wearing a long white dress with a beautiful pearl necklace. What is clanging is what looks like an enormous hook arch. And on the hooks are berries.

"What is that supposed to be?" William says, trying to understand the object.

"A plaque for Peeta and Katniss…" Jarrok says, running his fingers through the hooks hanging from the arch. The arch seems to be made of the District Four wood, the tall pine trees which are only sparingly used to make oars, small boats, and fishing spears.

"That's…is that supposed to be your subtle rebellion?"

"What too subtle?"

"Too obvious! Berries, really?" William says, taking one, "Are we trying to show solidarity or cause mass riots? Look, the plan is: Ron and Finnick take the train stations in Area Three and Area Five respectively, while we are to let Katniss and Peeta do their tour, and then the day after they leave, we cut off the station in Area Two. Then, once the Victory Tour's over and Snow has no choice but to send in reinforcements, they all come into Area One, and we catch them while their jammed in the Area One station. But you, you would have the rioters kidnap Katniss now."

"Right well, berries too obvious then…" Jarrok says, starting to remove them.

"Ahem, well, I've done my part; my mockingjays are already flying. But what do you suggest for this?" Librae asks, looking at the strange contraption. William taps his chin.

"I think I've got an idea. Mica…" he says, turning back to his servant, "Are you still growing the common rue in the garden?"

* * *

"And here they are! Katniss Everdean and Peeta Mellark! The Victors from District Twelve!" A very strangely accented voice yells. Peeta sees the man, but doesn't take much interest in him; he's not that notable, other than the mayor badge on his chest. Their white faced, frilly, and foolish looking escort, Effie, pushes the two before the screaming District Four crowd.

"Big smiles! You're seeing some of the best citizens of Panem, the fishermen of District Four!" Effie says, which is terrible, since it suggests that District Twelve is so much worse, but Peeta doesn't care. Instead, he's focused on Katniss tensing up next to him. He takes her hand.

"They're cheering my name. They expect me to lead a revolution," she whispers.

"Well, they are just going to get a calm and uneventful speech, aren't they…" Peeta says, squeezing her hand to give her support. Or maybe it's to give himself support. They walk out onto a stage overlooking a large crowd, of maybe seven hundred people. In the middle of the crowd are two large stages opposite them, one with a picture of the boy tribute, and one with a picture of the girl tribute. A family stands under the girl while only a small, red faced man stands under the other. While Katniss did technically kill the girl tribute, this didn't seem to bother her, not after seeing Foxface's family. The girl tribute from Five, whose real name was Finch but Peeta and Katniss had known as Foxface in the games, had died because Peeta had foolishly gathered nightlock berries when they were in the games. After that, this family under the girl tribute didn't seem all that painful.

As the two go out on the stage, they are stopped by a small girl, no more than six, and a boy, no more than four, wearing the same exact white gowns; both are dressed as the flowers they give the victors. Peeta takes his from the boy and holds them, sniffing the petal and acting like he is enticed by the pretty yellow flowers. In fact, he's a bit horrified how bad it smells. He turns to Katniss, who has a set of lilies, which smell fantastic.

"That's not fair…" Peeta murmurs, then looks back to the flowers. Something about them keeps taking back to the games.

"Come on!" Effie Trinket, their overly excitable and mercifully prompt escort, says, clapping her hands, "District Four must have its speech…Oh goodness," Effie is nearly blown over at the sight of the man who comes onto the stage.

"Oh, Otho Principle, wherever have you been, this poor woman has been begging for some good company since we left District Seven…"

"Never fear, my dear," the man, who is apparently Otho, says in an incredibly high tone, coming onto the stage. He has a grey hair, a lime-green suit, and orange eyelashes. He holds out his right hand to the woman which Peeta can also see is completely blue from tattoos.

"Effie Trinket, what a pleasure it is, I tell you, I've missed seeing your gorgeous face, since you've got District Twelve, we so rarely can visit each other in our districts. When was the last time, the 70th Hunger Games?"

"Something like that Otho…ahem…" Effie takes the mic from the mayor, who Peeta just then notices was reading the Treaty of Treason. The dull and dreary treaty defined the reason for why the Districts had to participate in the Games and when he normally heard it read before a crowd, it made his stomach do somersaults. In Four, however, the mayor was so un-notable that this reading was having no effect.

"Yes, yes, we all know about that, Craven, but we have a busy schedule and we're already behind. Let's have you give it up for Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark!" Effie says, giving them the cards with their speeches. Peeta, still holding Katniss's hand, goes methodically to the microphone and starts reading it. The people, who were cheering earlier, being to boo and hiss. "_Calm down!" _Peeta thinks.

"Panem today, Panem tomorrow, Panem forever!" he finishes, and then is pelted by something. Another of the yellow flowers. _What's with this bad smelling flower? _He wonders.

"Now Katniss your turn," Effie murmurs to her. But before she can speak, another man, middle aged, with perfect light bronze skin, sea-green eyes, and really quite handsome facial features, grabs the mic and interrupts.

"Whoa, whoa, folks, let's be kind here! Those flowers were for supporting those two, not trying to knock them down. Rues don't grow everywhere you know." Peeta's eyes grow wide, and he looks at Katniss, who also seems shocked.

"Rue…" The flowers given to him, and the one that hit him. District Four is supporting the revolution by using the flower whose name was shared by the very girl who started these revolts. Her song, her death, and now even her name have been used by these rebels. Katniss starts to shake but Peeta gives her hand another squeeze, and she seems to straighten up.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please…" The man says, sounding a bit frantic. He pushes the mic quickly into her hand, then goes to a peacekeeper and starts talking.

"Who is that guy…?" Peeta asks to no one in particular as Katniss is reading her speech. The only answer is the continued sounds of boos and Katniss's words.

"We have to recognize the generosity of the Capitol. They are the only ones who we can thank for our lives…" Katniss drones. The peacekeepers start to spread out, picking out key people and giving them smacks with their weapons. Peeta thinks a massacre might occur, when the man rushes back on the stage and takes the mic back from Katniss, interrupting her speech.

"Panem today, tomorrow, and forever. Okay thank you everyone! I hope you can come to my party tonight to host the wonderful Peeta and Katniss. Invitation only of course, but do show your support!" The man pushes the mic away and throws his arms around Peeta and Katniss.

"Welcome to District Four, you two. I'm William Odair, a leading man and seemingly the only one around here who wants to keep living in this District. I'm going to put you on this train to Area One here with one of our Victors, Jarrok Rinsiler, and he'll take you to the Victor's Village for a tour and then to the Justice Building for some light refreshment. And afterward, I'll see you two at the dinner party. Enjoy yourselves and the District!" William says, turning back to the crowd.

"Get it together d*mmit!" Peeta hears William say to a peacekeeper. Clearly this man is somehow connected to the Capitol, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to give orders like that. Peeta turns back to the train and sees a man, wearing a truly foolish outfit, blue with blue cloth hanging from it. HE has a thick belly, and his left arm is resting on it, the limb clearly not of much use anymore. The man comes to them and takes Katniss's hand with his good one.

"I'm Jarrok, Jarrok Rinsiler. I was a victor like you, a long, long time ago. Come, if you will follow me onto the train, we'll get you to Area One…our little "Capitol" here…" Jarrok holds out his hand, and Peeta and Katniss go onto the new train. Effie and Haymitch, the mentor who brought them home, as well as the Capitol man named Otho, are close behind, and they go into the small car, which is actually much less fancy or good looking than the rich Capitol trains that had been taking them back and forth across Panem. However, it still has large comfy chairs facing together like a living room with a bar and dining area in the back of the car.

"Well…this is…uh…" Effie begins.

"It's part of the intradistrict train system, so I'm sorry it's not quite as nice. Most visitors to the district take trains straight from the Capitol. Us in the District are the only ones who use this system," Jarrock says. Peeta suddenly sees their luxury of District Four. That train, which is only marginally less fancy than the ones of the Capitol, is for the people's use. It would be the equivalent of those terrible coal trains of Twelve, or maybe the cars which are owned by only about three people in their District. It's astonishing, and Katniss shows her shock as well.

"I know Effie, it's not what the civilized would normally use but…" Otho begins, but Katniss interrupts him.

"This…is just for the people of District Four?"

"Yes, in general. But today, it's for the Victors from District Twelve. Now, can I get you all anything to drink? It will be about a thirty minute ride to Area One and I don't want you to be thirsty."

"No…just…well I'll have water," Peeta asks.

"I'll have one too…" Katniss says.

"Haymitch, some white rum as usual?"

"You know me too well Jarrok…" Haymitch says, going to the bar with the other Victor. Otho and Effie are talking about something ridiculous, some person's wig choice for a meaningless event. Katniss and Peeta take a seat on a couch. Katniss seems to have phased out, staring out the window into the distance. Peeta remains still, trying to be a rock she can lean on. However, he soon grows tired of hearing Effie and Otho and starts whispering to Katniss.

"These people seem more excitable than the ones of District Five."

"Yeah…District Five was pretty boring compared to this morning…I guess District Eight was like this…"

"People screaming you name…hoping you will be a leader in a revolt."

"Well, I'm not going to be anything but dead if we can't clamp down on this," Katniss says blankly, trying to remain unemotional.

"No cameras kids! Drink to your heart's content!" Haymitch says, bringing Katniss and Peeta two glasses. The liquid is clear like water, but Peeta is suspicious.

"No cameras?" Effie says, looking at Haymitch.

"Oh no…" Otho starts, "We're going within range of Tribute Academy. No footage is allowed of that place, or somebody might get arrested! We're not supposed to prepare our tributes, remember?"

"This is where they prepare Careers…" Peeta says, looking out of a window at the sleek, small dark grey building with what appears to be an enormous gymnasium.

"That's right. The people here take great pride in the Hunger Games—frankly more than makes sense—," Jarrok mumbles, looking at Effie and Otho.

"So we get to enter a drunken stupor!" Haymitch says, clinking the untouched glasses in front of Katniss and Peeta and gulping down a large drink of white liquor.

"Now, uh…Haymitch…you know they turn back on once we get to the Justice Building," Jarrok says.

"Looks like this is my stop then…" Haymitch gets up and starts toward the door, then winks at Katniss and Peeta, "I'll see you at the party. Enjoy your tour."

"Well, if you're getting off here where there are no cameras, I suppose I'll have to keep an eye on you. Come on Otho, let's follow this…bumbling…" Effie hesitates, trying to think of something. This only inspires Haymitch.

"Go ahead sweetie, call me something...nasty!"

"…Drunkard!"

"That's the best you could do, sugar? Hah!" Haymitch, grabbing a bottle from the bar, bangs on the door, which causes the train to slow and allows Haymitch, Effie, and Otho off. Jarrok is left with Katniss and Peeta.

"Well…shall I give you two some privacy…" Jarrok asks, taking a sip from his drink. It's some clear liquid in a strange triangular glass with an olive in it. Peeta looks at Katniss, who seems stable enough, and shakes his head.

"No, please, sit down…" Jarrok nods in assent, then takes his place in another chair. He straightens his suit as he sits down.

"Are…these water?" Katniss says, weakly.

"Uh…one is. Haymitch got ahold of the other…" Peeta sniffs the two. The one in front of him was clearly Haymitch's doing, so he hands Katniss the other and looks over the silly Victor in front of him.

"Which games did you win?"

"The 29th I believe that was it. It was so long ago…and I don't like to relive those days," Jarrok admits.

"And you've been a mentor since then?"

"Yes, I guess it's been…forty-five years I've been doing this now!" Jarrok says, a little too chipper for Peeta's taste. But the thought that Peeta could be mentoring boys and watch them die for year and years makes him too sick to be angry with the man.

"Was Porick your tribute?" Katniss asks, suddenly awake. Jarroks shakes his head.

"Nope, wasn't my year. We have a rotating cycle now that there are six victors alive. Each of us mentors one boy and one girl every six years. I'm up next for the girl in the Quarter Quell!" Jarrok says, putting extra emphasis on his last words.

"Then you probably know Haymitch pretty well, especially if you've been mentoring for so long."

"Yes well, all mentors know each other. Especially the ones who lose a lot. Let me tell you, I haven't had a great deal of success."

"But…didn't you have like three victors in a row?" Katniss says. Peeta thinks he remembers District Four winning several in a short period too. Jarrok sighs.

"Since I won the 29th, District Four has had four Victors. Librae Oglivy, the 55th, was mentored by a woman named Muscida, who is now dead. Finnick Odair, the 65th, was mentored by a wonderful victor named Mags. Ron, the 66th, while I taught him most of what he knew, was mentored by Finnick. And Annie, the 70th, was mentored by Librae. I made the mistake of trading the 70th mentor position for the 71st. And I watched the girl I trained hacked to pieces by that Johanna Mason lady. Librae is not much happier than I am. The one success story she's had, Annie, is now mentally unstable. Very unstable. You know…you saw Librae's children today. Her girl and boy presented you with the flowers," Katniss looks shocked, but Peeta is more reflective. What would it be like, if Katniss and Peeta had a baby? Obviously, he would never have children with any other girl. But what would it be like for this child of Victors? As Peeta thinks about this, Katniss fazes out again. Peeta looks at her, thinking about how beautiful their children would be as he strokes her cheek and kisses her.

"Very good, Mr. Mellark…" Jarrok says.

"What?" Peeta asks. The old man shakes his head.

"Nothing, just saying you're doing a good job. I don't think anyone in the Capitol believes you are anything but madly in love. Katniss on the other hand…well…" Jarrok gets up and goes to the window, "We're arriving shortly. Are you ready to see the Victor's Village?"

"I suppose so…" Peeta says, shaking Katniss back to life and walking with her out into another crowd of cheering people and masses of cameras.

* * *

The first thing Peeta sees when he enters the enormous Victor Village house is how important food is to Jarrok. He tries to keep his shock hidden as about thirty cameras follow Jarrok, Katniss, and himself into his home. Mostly the food is in the photographs and paintings hanging on the wall, but there are sculptures of various dishes, the floor tiles are colored and shaped like various fruits, and the entire home smells like a mix of exotic dishes. Peeta swallows hard, leans over and gives Katniss a kiss.

"I guess that's where that belly came from…" Peeta says, giggling. Katniss is more horrified than anything.

"Is this what we'll turn into when we're old? Obsessed with food, fat, and unable to win a single game?"

"Well, I'm already pretty much obsessed with bread, so…" Peeta starts, but Jarrok clears his throat.

"We have quite a bit to see, you can enjoy each other's company tonight, at the party. Now, in here is my sitting room, where I've hosted many a food contest…" Jarrok drones as Peeta looks around the home. Behind them is a big staircase, which leads to the second floor. In front of them is the sitting room and a balcony which looks out over the enormous body of water he knows from school to be the sea. Peeta is focused on a painting of a cheesecake for a long time before he hears Jarrok open the door to his porch.

"Come, come…" Jarrok says, allowing Peeta and Katniss by. Apparently, District Four has the nicest tour destinations, and Peeta sees why as he goes out onto the porch and hears the roar of the ocean. The largest body of water he's ever seen before they came to District Four was a lake in the arena in the Hunger Games and a large river in the center of District Eight. Jarrok, pausing to notice Peeta's staring, smiles.

"Of course…you two have never seen the sea! Not in real life of course. Well, it's hard not to love…" Jarrok closes the door behind him before the cameras can follow. Peeta doesn't care though, he's too focused on the sounds of thunder coming from the water.

"So…loud…"

"Powerful, might be a better word. Unlike your sorry lakes in District Twelve, our water is truly the greatest. This is the same water that destroyed the nations of the world and left only Panem in its wake."

"So…" Katniss starts. Peeta turns to her and takes her hand.

"So what?" the Victor asks. Katniss smacks her lips, then looks at Jarrok.

"Salty?"

"Don't they teach you anything in school?"

"Seawater is salty," Peeta answers methodically. Jarrok laughs, then points out to the sea.

"Let me give you another lesson. Never, ever, try to drink sea water. You bodies can't handle that much salt. What's more, if you do drink it, to oust the extra salt, your body has to expend more water, which will dehydrate you even faster."

"I knew that…" Katniss says, matter-of-factly.

"Of course you did, excuse this old fool…" Jarrok turns and goes back into the home, pushing cameras back, "I'll just let them know to meet you at the party…" Katniss and Peeta are alone on the porch, and they look at each other.

"I want to go home Peeta…" Katniss says. Peeta nods in assent, then looks back to the sea. His agreement was a complete lie. This is the most exciting his life had ever been. He is actually looking at the sea, he can taste the salt which Jarrok warned was so deadly. He didn't want to get in it, he couldn't swim. But, he still felt the draw of the water, to look at it, listen to the thunder against the rocks. This thunder apparently isn't quite as soothing to Katniss, as she buries her head in Peeta's chest and tries to hide her face.

"We're doing miserably. We're not convincing anyone."

"Yes we are Katniss. We're doing our job. It's the people in the Districts who don't get it, and worrying about them won't help," Peeta says into her hair. They stand together like that for a long time, Peeta really wishing he could just enjoy being with Katniss and the ocean without the threats of the President of Panem hanging over their heads. Still holding Katniss, he watches a number of boats coming in toward docks far down the beaches. Finally, after what is probably an hour, Peeta sees the sun starting to drop behind the distant horizon. The sun being to turn orange, the color Peeta so admires, and he taps Katniss's shoulder.

"That orange…that's my favorite color." he says. Katniss looks up in awe, then a knock on the glass turns them. It's Haymitch, who is holding another bottle and appears to be quite drunk. Effie and Otho are there too, and they seem decidedly less chipper.

"We have a party to go to, love birds. Let's get going! I'm not missing that full service…hic…bar!" Haymitch grunts. Neither Peeta nor Katniss can help but laugh as Jarrok has to direct Haymitch toward the door.

"We can do this Katniss…" Peeta says, taking her hand, "We can look like we're in love…"

"No Peeta…" She says, "We have to be in love…" She leans over, and gives Peeta a long, soft, and wonderful kiss.


	14. Part 2: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"And here it is!" Jarrok says. Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, and Effie all look at the home in disbelief. It is at least twice as big as any of the other Victor Village houses, and is a wonderful mix of sea green and grey which would probably fade into the darkness of the sea beyond it if not for the blaring noise and fulgent light coming from within the home. It looks magnificent, and Peeta can only barely stammer out his confusion.

"I thought the Victor Village houses all were the same."

"Oh, this isn't part of the Victor Village. This is William Odair's home. He built it from scratch…" Otho says. Jarrok nods in agreement.

"How rich is that man?" Haymitch shoots, still a little unsteady but more sober than before.

"The exact numbers would be difficult to calculate," Jarrok says, then signals to the lawn, where a large crowd is pushing to get into the home. The man who commanded the peacekeepers earlier in the day bursts from his home and waves to the group.

"There they are! The Victors from District Twelve!" William roars. There are loud cheers, lots of autograph books shoved forward, and sighs of approval when Peeta gives Katniss a kiss.

"This crowd is filled with Capitol lovers," Katniss mutters.

"A practice round for the last part of the tour…" Peeta says. He waves to the cameras and blows them a kiss, which leads the nearby women to cry out. Peeta smiles and launches lots of kisses, which leads a few of the especially Capitol looking ones to faint. Or at least pretend to faint. Peeta and Katniss finally reach the door and William grabs their arms.

"Kiss!" William mutters to them. Peeta looks at him, then grabs Katniss and gives the longest and most convincing kiss he's ever done. He's holding Katniss at an angle, and their lips are locked for a solid two minutes before William forces them apart.

"Come on man, share the lady with the rest of Panem for a few moments!" Williams says, though more to the camera than him. Peeta smiles and looks back to the camera as well.

"Sorry, Mr. Odair, but I just…love her so much…" Peeta looks deep in Katniss's eyes. William leans over and whispers something in Katniss's ear.

"Peeta...my champion. Don't ever let go…" Katniss says, then looks at William for approval. He nods, then roughly grabs Katniss's arm.

"Sorry, toots, I'm in need of a partner for the first dance!" William drags Katniss away, and Peeta is left with Haymitch and Effie, as Otho and Jarrok have already raced toward the large serving stations all around the room.

"Well, that was abrupt."

"Despite this…extravagance…William is your ally. That much I know. His son is a hell of a Victor. They are both on your side." Haymitch whispers to the boy, then leads him into the party. The ballroom is filled with people, including what appears to be a number of on-duty peacekeepers. One, who is without a helmet, is rather beautiful with soft pink hair and rather pretty blue eyes. The woman gives Peeta a friendly wave, then hits a man with a nightstick.

"Peeta Mellark!" A woman wearing a long white dress and with a beautiful pearl necklace approaches him. She is holding a girl no more than six. In fact, Peeta thinks he recognizes the girl, and after a few moments sees that she is the same girl who gave Katniss the lilies.

"Hello…what's your name?" Peeta says, entering the childish mode he uses with his young cousins and waving to the girl. The mother nudges her.

"This is Priscilla." The woman says, "You wanted to meet him, dear. Say hi."

"I want to volunteer like Katniss. And I want a strong man like you to rescue!" Priscilla blurts out. Peeta laughs at his own inadequacy, then grabs the little girl's hand.

"Well, ms. Pricilla, would you ask your mother if I could give you a dance?" Peeta says. Priscilla seems in disbelief, then looks at her mom.

"Of course, if its ok with you, mrs…"

"Ms. Librae Oglivy. I was like you some twenty years ago, a fresh young victor, unafraid of anything. Let me warn you, Peeta, you have to lose yourself in your work. I'm an animal trainer. There are days that if I didn't have my birds and dogs, I'd go mad. The pain will sneak up and break you if you aren't careful. Now, go on, Priscilla, if you can't wait until your ten to find a man, go ahead." Priscilla jumps out of her mother's arms and grabs Peeta's hand, dragging him to the dance floor. He moves around with her, but is thinking about her mother's words. He has to real passions beside Katniss, baking and painting, but are they enough? All he's painted are pictures of the Hunger Games. If he can't let go, his life will never be normal again. But what was normal for a Victor? Was there even a normal life here in Panem? As one song ends, Peeta notices Katniss standing with Haymitch looking miserable, and he leans down to Priscilla.

"Thanks for the dances young lady. I promise you, whoever that boy you rescue will be, he'll be lucky to have you!" Priscilla hugs Peeta and gives him a kiss on the cheek, then runs back to her mother. Peeta waves to Librae, and she mouths a "thank you" in response. He turns and goes to Katniss, and thinking of the cameras, sweeps her off her feet.

"Were you getting jealous?"

"Somewhat…" Katniss says, looking at the camera.

"Katniss look at him!" Peeta hears in a loud whisper from behind him. He expects to be Haymitch, but it is actually Jarrok.

"Ahem…what?" Katniss says, looking at the man who has probably six plates of food.

"I said Fontainebleu! It's a cheese of the ancient country of France. How I wish that nation wasn't underwater so I could sample all its foods…but we must instead eat these poor excuses."

"That sounded nothing like what you said…" Peeta mutters. Katniss is more disgusted with the man's food obsession.

"How could you possibly want more types of food? People are starving in Twelve and…"

"They aren't starving right now, are they?" Haymitch says, jumping into the conversation and downing a drink, "Shanks to you…burp*…everybody's living well. Including me!" Haymitch grunts. He looks at a camera, which is zooming in on him.

"Get that out of my face!" Haymitch yells, putting his hand over the lens and pushing it away. This only results in more cameras turning at him, which causes him to try and escape. He fails at, and falls face first into a bowl of some seafood dish. Soon all cameras are on him, and at that moment, William appears behind Katniss and Peeta.

"Hey you two. I'll make a deal with you. Give the cameras one last dance, then you can retire for the night, and I'll get your mentor back in one piece to you tomorrow morning. You'll have to stay here tonight, Haymitch is in no shape to travel," Peeta looks at his haggard mentor, and the cameras which are all focused on him, then grabs William and brings him close.

"What's your angle? Why are you helping us like this? Are you some Capitol goon?"

"Oh, I assure you, the Capitol is my enemy, just like yours…" William says very quietly into his ear. Peeta is concerned, but lets William continue, "However, we're not going to get you two killed in District Four. I'm trying to hold the riots and chaos back until you leave. Then our rebel force, the Mockingjay Rebel Commander Corps, will take the district. Don't worry, we won't grant you or Katniss the credit for our revolt. We've been planning this for many years before you two came along. Anyway, do have a good time in the next three districts. You might actually get hit with a screwdriver in District Three, so be careful there…" William leans back and holds out his hands.

"One final dance from the couple, then these two love birds want to get some sleep. I say, we give them their privacy, after one final dance. In fact," William looks back to the band, a piano player and female singer who have been up until this point playing mostly songs from District Twelve or the Capitol, "we have a special song for you. If you remember, Katniss in your games…" William is now turned toward the cameras, now focused on him. He is clearly addressing Panem as a whole, "Rue, your ally, sang a song to alert you to whether she was okay or not? Well, fascinatingly enough, that song is from our District. An old ditty called _California_! Come on folks, let's give them a taste of District Four!" And the song which follows is in truth ominous, dark, and horrifying. But Peeta is much less concerned with the lyrics as he is with the tune. The chief notes of the song are Rue's tune, but Peeta suspects that they weren't always. But its not an obvious revolt, in fact, only the most perceptive of musicians could recognize that. William really was a rebel. The cautious and calculated nature of this revolt actually makes Peeta feels safer, despite the fact that this will probably draw the ire of the Capitol to Twelve. But would it? Peeta imagines the answer is no as he spins Katniss around to the final lines of the song.

"What's gotten into you?" Katniss asks. Peeta gives her a kiss, then goes to her ear.

"Because not all of the rebels are so obvious…" Peeta says, putting his three middle finger to his lips and flashing it to William. The man smiles, takes a glass of wine, and drinks it, his three fingers up at his mouth, then hold the glass out.

"Let's go to bed Katniss…" Peeta says, bringing her to the steps, where the pink haired peacekeeper is dragging Haymitch toward a room. Effie is also going to bed, however, she is doing so because Otho next to her is completely incoherent and seems to have lost his vision.

"Come on Otho, just a few more steps…" Effie says, trying to get the man to bed.

"Good night Effie." Peeta says. She looks at Peeta menacingly, then drags Otho in one direction, while Katniss and Peeta go in another.

"Wait…one last one for the audience…" Peeta says, giving Katniss one last long kiss.

* * *

"What a bunch of hooey!" Finnick says, waving at the screen. He has Ron on the bar's telephone, and is watching the party on the TV in the bar. Being almost 1 AM on a Tuesday, most people are in Area Five are in bed or in Area One for the event, and it's just Finnick, one drunk patron, the bar tender, and Ron, about fifty miles away in Area Three.

"You don't buy it?"

"Oh, I know he's head over heels in love! She likes him about as much as a kid likes Brussels sprouts."

"Not all of us are as privileged as you Finnick. We didn't all get to pick what we wanted to eat when we were growing up."

"Bullsh*t!" Finnick grunts, "You're rich too! You got to eat whatever you wanted."

"Maybe so…by the way, happy birthday. How old are you now, twenty-three? Did you get lots of presents?"

"I got my father's house here in Area Five. And I got an IOU from my father for a liberated District Four."

"Well, I can't get you a house, or the liberated District yet, but I got you a little something…look in your bag, next to your trident…" Finnick digs into the bag and takes out the baton version of the trident. He puts that aside and finds a small box with a ribbon on it.

"What is…" Finnick opens it to find a small glove with a metal device in its center.

"It's a magnet glove. If your trident gets away from you, you can hold out your hand and draw the weapon back to you."

"That sounds like poppytalk!"

"Test it and find out. We got a job, Finnick, let's get to it!" Finnick looks over the glove, and decides it's stylish enough to wear anyway. He puts his trident back in his bag.

"Right, well, I'll see you in Area One. Try not to kill too many of them…"

"No promises…" Ron grunts, then there is a click on the receiver. Finnick hangs up the phone and leaves the bar, entering the cool Area Five night. He turns and watches the lights of the train station turn down as the final cars come into the station about a mile away. Finnick goes to another building between the two, a small general mart near the station. A thick mustached man is talking rapidly to a patron as Finnick goes in.

"Uh…lieutenant Aurelian?" Finnick asks tentatively. The patron at the bar turns around. Half of his face is covered in tattoos, and he has a number of piercings on his face. This gives him the appearance of the ridiculous Capitol upper class. However, when he speaks, it's clear he's a peacekeeper.

"Finnick Odair? Do you have the juice?"

"The what?" Finnick starts, confused. Two other large men come out from behind a shelf and follow Aurelian as he starts toward Finnick. Aurelian grabs the man by his collar.

"Don't act like you can play dumb with me! Where is the juice?"

"I haven't the slightest clue what you are talking about…"

"Oh, well does this help?" Aurelian draws a pistol and puts it to Finnick's head. The situation is clearly out of hand, and apparently it shows on Finnick's face, as the storeowner is frantic.

"Oh no! Not morphling traffic in here! I'm getting out!" The man jumps from behind the counter and runs through the door, screaming for help. Aurelian watches him go, then puts his pistol back in his pocket.

"Sorry for that rude introduction, but we'll need some room to get into the train station. With the peacekeepers hunting for drugs around this building, we'll be free to do what we have too. Let me properly introduce myself, Lieutenant Aurelian Spintok. Marcia has instructed me and my two friends here to help you in any way possible," Aurelian says this in a very subordinate fashion, and even salutes afterward, but Finnick isn't pleased after what just happened.

"What an honor," Finnick mutters, "Let's get this over with." One of Aurelian's lieutenants opens the back door of the grocery and leads the others out into the cool night air. The Sea of Mead, the great internal sea which dominated Area Four, Five, and Six, and part of District Five, is lapping gently against its beaches to the south of the station. Being the largest recreational fishing zone for Capitol citizens, as well as the largest oyster diving area in the District, Area Five needed direct access to the Capitol stations and the central train hub in District Six. To accomplish this, there was a large train station built in the ruins of an old building which was used to govern the state largely consumed by the Sea of Mead, Nevada. And this station's intradistrict access made it Finnick's target. He, Aurelian, and the two rebel soldiers sneak quietly along the beach, and take positions near the station. Finnick turns to the sea and is brought back to a day long ago, when he was a small child, with his father on this great sea. Finnick considers this for a moment, the beauty of the sun on the lake, the blissful, wonderful memories of his father, the soft and happy image of his mother. Finnick feels his anger rising, and sees peacekeepers coming out of the station to deal with the drug alert.

"You took that from me…" Finnick says, his mind filling with his anger at his father, his disgust with his sexual life, and his despair at the death of his mother. Finnick starts to move from his position toward the peacekeepers, but Aurelian grabs his hand.

"There are too many."

"You haven't seen me fight…"

"I have, everyone Panem has, and you're one of the best, if not the best, but they have automatic weapons. Just wait. Surely they'll be peacekeepers for you to kill inside," Finnick looks at the squad of about ten men moving out of the station, and gets back down.

"Now…we have to take over the control station and open the main doors of the station. There are about twenty rebels in the area who are ready to take over the station from us once we get those open. And that means we have to blow open this side door…" As they are speaking, two more peacekeepers come out through a side door and start talking. They are without their helmets and one has a cigarette.

"Or…we could use their badges…" Finnick mutters. He moves quickly to a shrub just in front of the two. Aurelian waves at his men to hold position, then follows Finnick to his place.

"Okay, you take the one on the left…" Aurelian starts, but Finnick is already out of the bush and has flung his trident into the neck of one of the men. The other turns, but before he or Aurelian can do anything, Finnick has drawn the trident out of the first man and in a skillful spinning move, cuts the neck of the other man.

"I'll get the control room. You get the peacekeepers in the terminal," Finnick orders. Aurelian glances at his approaching men, then nods.

"Acknowledged commander Odair," Aurelian takes a pass off one of the men and presses it to door, which unlocks in response. Finnick goes in and sees the three rebels go in the other direction. He turns and races up the stairs, where there are no peacekeepers, and then enters a staff only area. There, two peacekeepers are talking. Finnick jumps out and slashes ones neck and then stabs one in the foot. Finnick rips off the man's helmet and brings his face close.

"How many peacekeepers are left here?"

"Eight…teen…most stationed throughout the terminal…" he says, clearly in serious pain.

"Thank you…" Finnick says, then draws the knife from the man's belt and stabs his windpipe, causing blood to squirt out of his mouth and onto his grey, cloth uniform. He allows the peacekeeper's remains to crumple to the ground then continues through the inner workings of the station, killing three more peacekeepers. From his calculations, about six are probably in the control room when he bursts through the door, and sure enough, six peacekeepers, two sleeping and four playing cards, are in the room.

"What? Who are…"Finnick skews the speaker, then runs forward and grabs his trident from the body. He turns swiftly and, in a move Mag trained him for many years to learn, jumps over the man, thrusts his trident forward, strikes another man then in the same flourish, and finally, twirls the trident around and smacks one peacekeeper across her face, leaving her in a puddle of blood. The others grab their weapons but start to back off.

"Open the main door…" Finnick says. He raises the trident, and one peacekeeper rushes to the controls and presses the buttons to open it.

"Alright, see, I'm cooperating!" The man murmurs. His officer hits him with his gun butt, then points his weapon back at Finnick.

"Well, Finnick Odair, you can claim whatever victory you want. Soon, you, and everyone you know will be punished for this rebellion."

"Oh, we know about the plans for a crackdown. And I assure you, we're ready…" Finnick says, smiling. The peacekeeper's face slips into a frown as Aurelian and a group of rebel soldiers burst into the room. Aurelian holds his gun up and frowns.

"What's going on?"

"They were just surrendering the station to me…" Finnick says. The peacekeeper commander drops his pistol as Aurelian and the men take them prisoner. The one who opened the door leans over and grabs Finnick.

"I hope you have a good plan and that it will be ready very soon."

"Why very soon?" Finnick asked, perturbed.

"Because the moment Katniss and Peeta leave, the new head peacekeeper is coming," he says. Finnick pulls him from Aurelian's grip and brings him close.

"What?"

"When the tour ends…we've got orders from Statius to prepare a report for tomorrow. Only the technicians of each station or barracks would have got them…" the man say. Finnick lets him go, his mind racing. The peacekeepers were coming too fast. They chose to rebel during the Victory Tour because Snow wasn't supposed to be ready for him. Had Johanna been caught by surprise? Would Beetee? It was really too late to turn everything around now, all Finnick could do was try and warn his father. Aurelian nudges Finnick's arm, which brings him back to reality.

"Shall I send the message?"

"Yes, but let me change it slightly," Aurelian has the bird, one of Librae's pets, a mockingjay with a small piece of paper on its leg, which will report their success. He takes the message from the leg, which at this moment only says "Five" on it, and scribbles, "New friends imminent." Finnick reties the message to its leg, and pats the bird's head.

"Sign this tune for me." Finnick says, starting _California, _with Rue's tune. The bird stays quite, listening, then repeats the tune back to Finnick, just as he sang it.

"Very good. Let's hope Librae trained you well enough," Finnick takes the bird on his arm, goes out of the station, and releases the mockingjay, which continues to sing the tune as it flies back toward Area One.


	15. Part 2: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Thanks to silverhuntress04 for following. Please continue to review!

* * *

William is up much earlier than anyone else who attended the party. He is drinking tea on his sitting room's balcony as servants clean up the destroyed mess that was once his house. As he reflects on his success and hopefully the success of his son, Marcia, looking a little tired and disheveled, comes to him.

"William…" she mutters. William gives her a sidelong glance.

"Can't you see I'm basking in the beauty of a successful party?" William sighs and turns completely toward her, "Unless...is this about the farmers again?"

"Yes. Hadrian has been unable to contain the revolt in Area Seven and had to retreat back to Two. He is currently stationed in Three, so Ron and him may soon come into contact…"

"And Hadrian should remember Terrance's and Ron's long relationship with him. Frankly Marcia, I'm not worried. They are the poorest citizens of Four; their rebellion was inevitable," William mutters, rubbing his chin, "I say we let Area Seven cut loose, it will allow us to engage in a three prong attack against Area One instead of two."

"As you command. I will order all forces back to regroup…" Marcia says, but William is now ignoring her, and instead focused on the heavily intoxicated party guest lying unconscious on the railing of the balcony William is on. He has just realized that the snoring mass is Haymitch.

"Hey!" William grunts in annoyance, pushing past Marcia and shaking the man, "Get up! Your train to District Three leaves in an hour!" The man remains unstirred, hanging on the railing and snoring loudly. William is about to punch him awake when a mockingjay lands on Haymitch's unmoving hand. The bird pecks at the fingers but it also has no effect on the drunkard. William sees the note tied to the bird's leg. He looks back to Marcia, then leans down to the bird.

"Do you have a song for me?" William asks. The mockingjay starts to sing Rue's tune, and William opens the note to see a number three.

"Ron did his job. Let's just hope that Finnick was able to do the same…" William says to the Haymitch, who starts to murmur something, then snores again. William hears a scream, then turns around to see Effie has come out onto the balcony and is hysterical at the condition of the man.

"We have the District Three parade this afternoon! How did he get this bad?"

"I promised a mentor in one piece, not a drunkard turned clean," William mutters, undoing Haymitch's death grip on the railing.

"Well…this will surely put us off schedule…" Effie says, stomping her foot and pouting like a five year old. William sighs, calls over some servants, and looks at Marcia.

"Would you carry…drunkie here…to the car my dear?" The servants and Marcia start to drag him away, with Effie offering a great deal more advice on how to hold him than necessary. William follows them back into his home and sees Katniss and Peeta holding hands and tasting various breakfast foods.

"Good morning you two!" William says. Peeta nods to him but Katniss seems distant, "I hope the excitement last night wasn't too much for you. I want you to remember District Four as an ally, in all your endeavors," William shakes Peeta's hand and gives Katniss a kiss on her cheek.

"I appreciate your support. Thank you," Peeta says. William sees them to the car, where Haymitch is being shoved unceremoniously into a back seat by Marcia. Effie is already in the car, and Otho, who is himself quite hung-over, is with her, talking about something else ridiculous. William shakes his head at the two, then looks to Katniss, smiling evilly.

"Good luck, Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire." William says, "Your fire is growing and spreading wildly. Wild enough, perhaps to set the sea here aflame. But you should also know that you aren't the only source of the fire around here…Good luck keeping the Capitol pleased." William shuts the door, happily satisfied with the horrified look on Katniss's face. He comes back into the house to see Mica, holding a mockingjay. The bird, a different one from the first which arrived, is singing Rue's song, and has a message on its leg.

"I believe this is for you, Mr. Odair…" Mica says, holding out the mockingjay. William, smiling, takes the message from the bird, but his face slips to a frown as he sees Finnick's warning.

"Friends imminent…but they're supposed to be coming…one month after the tour…" William turns and rushes out of the door, seeing as the cars are long gone. He looks back to Mica.

"I need to get to Area Two now!"

"I'll call a car…"

"No…" William says, pointing to Marcia, "You take the car." He looks back at Mica, a smile slipping on his face, "Mica, tell the other servants to get my boat ready."

* * *

When the docks of Area Two come into view, William knows he doesn't have much time. He turns his ship quickly toward the nearest pier and cuts off a shrimp barge which honks at his small vessel.

"Shut up! You're probably on my payroll!" William yells, flashing his high level dock clearance to an official. The man extends a gangway, and William rushes off his boat and starts running toward the main station in Area Two. A large crowd is gathered to see off the victors. The crowd is chanting Katniss's name, which is not making her feel any better, but they aren't being overly riotous or obnoxious either. William pushes through the crowd and clambers onto the stage just as the train leaves. Otho, who still appears hung-over, and Mayor Craven are on the stage, and they turn in confusion as William takes his place with them huffing and puffing.

"You just missed them William…" Mayor Craven says. William waves him off, and stands up straight, trying to catch his breath.

"No…huff*, I made it just in time…" William watches the train go, then looks back to the crowd who are starting to disband. He grabs a mic and taps into it.

"Hold on folks, just a moment." The people look back in confusion, "I think we'll have some special guests arriving soon, and I don't think you'll want to miss it…" William sees that the peacekeepers coming from behind the crowd prove he's right. Statius, probably not in the mood to disperse a crowd, pushes his way through the people and goes onto stage. He salutes to Mayor Craven, then looks at Otho and William.

"So, you all got the alert too?"

"Apparently William did…" The mayor says, looking a little jealous. Otho just looks annoyed.

"I can't spend a lot of time doing this you know, I've got a flower show tonight, and I'm going back to my Capitol home tomorrow…" he mutters, watching as the Victor's train fading from view. Just as it disappears in the distance, a new train replaces it. This one is much slower and larger, and as it pulls into the station, peacekeepers pour out of the cars. They surround the crowd, and wearing new shiny white armor, unlike the grey, scuffed, and much less armored uniforms of the older peacekeepers. Many also have automatic weapons, though many are also armed with riot shields and nightsticks. Out the forwardmost car comes the two commanders, first, a hefty, bald man in gold clothes followed by a tall, gruff man with jet black hair and a perfectly trimmed and straightened goatee in peacekeeper armor. His skin is tan, but this is clearly not its natural color, as it seems unhumanly orange to William. While he is a clear peacekeeper commander, the second man is obviously of the Capitol. He has not only golden eyes, eyebrows, and nails but when he smiles, he reveals a shimmering set of golden teeth.

Statius comes forward and salutes to the new peacekeeper.

"Welcome to District Four, I'm Statius..." The Capitol official points at him and waves, and the peacekeeper commander steps forward.

"You've been relieved of duty. Arrest this man for negligence of the laws of the Capitol," The peacekeeper commander orders. Statius can only plead for a moment before two of the new keepers come and grab him roughly.

"Wait...wait...I...but…" Statius is dragged away, toward where, William can only guess. This act, horrifying to William and the Mayor, seems to shock Otho especially, and he starts to whimper as William and the Mayor come forward to meet the new peacekeeper.

"Mayor Craven, what are you doing here?" The official asks. Craven, looking rather incensed, crosses his arms and looks like he's about to start pouting.

"It is tradition for the mayor of a District to oversee the appointment of a new head peacekeeper, Agrippa."

"President Snow has removed that useless tradition. Or at least he planned to. But, since you are here, I suppose there isn't much to do but allow you this ridiculous demand." The official turns and looks at the crowd.

"I'm Agrippa Figgins, Capitol Official and close confidant of President Snow, and this is your new head peacekeeper, Marcellus Doment. And we are going to restore the sorry state of your district to…" Agrippa trails of as he looks at William, "...who are you? And why are you standing up here?" In response William jumps out and throws out his hand.

"William Odair, manager of District Four Hotel Industries, Pearl Oyster Production Industry and Fleet 1, 2, and 4 of District Four Fishing Industries."

"And what gives you authority to speak to stand here with the Mayor?" The man asks darkly.

"You I believe. Mr. Odair was given notice of your arrival. Notice which should have also gone to me!" The mayor says sourly. Agrippa looks at Marcellus, who shrugs, then looks back to the crowd.

"Well then, I suppose President Snow selected you to assist in the subduing of the rebellions here. Ahem…" Agrippa goes to the microphone and starts talking, "Remember!" Agrippa yells, "the Capitol's generosity is great, but not infinite. The rebellion occurring in the Area Three, Five and Seven will be swiftly dealt with. As part of your reminder of the Captiol's unrelenting justice, there is mandatory viewing tonight, District Eight's Crackdown," the people in the crowd, and even a few of the older peacekeepers start to murmur to each other. William notices the people's disgruntlement and sees an opportunity to test Agrippa.

"Oh, not Katniss and Peeta in District Three tonight? I'm sure the festivities must be spectacular, seeing as they make TVs there. That is what I hoped to watch tonight." Agrippa looks at Marcellus, who goes to William and grabbing his collar lifts him into the air.

"One more word out of you, and I'm going to be the last thing you get to watch, got it?" Marcellus spits, drawing his pistol and putting it to William's head. Most people in the crowd draw back or scream at the sight of their champion's father like that. William nods slowly in response. Marcellus drops him and returns to his place behind the Mayor. Otho is still whimpering, and William touches his shoulder.

"It's okay Otho…Statius...and hopefully the rest of us...will be okay…"

"I don't care about that…" Otho mutters, "I'm furious because I won't be able to leave the District for a least a month. I'm going to miss all the celebrations! D*mmit, why didn't anyone tell me about this crackdown…" Otho is in tears, and William can't help but roll his eyes at the idiot, as Agrippa makes his final warning.

"Rebellion will not be tolerated. Do not think I will allow even the slightest urging of revolt. Dismissed. All except you Mayor."

"Clearly you prefer William to me, why don't you take him instead?" Craven asks, apparently consumed by petty politics. Agrippa looks at Marcellus's pistol and probably considers ending the mayor's life then, but then points at the new armored cars coming from within the train.

"Get in. Both of you…" William bounces his eyebrows to Otho, then follows Agrippa and Marcellus toward a large, tank like vehicle. Marcia, who arrived by car a short time back, is positioned near the cars, and William bumps into her, but holds her close.

"Marcia, they are her a bit early and are a bit harsher than I predicted. I need to convince them of your loyalty. I just hope my plan works. It might get us both killed."

"I already gave my life for you. Do as you must," Marcia says, shoving William violently, "Get off me, d*mmit," she says much louder, audible to Agrippa and Marcellus.

"Sorry my lady," William says, turning back to the car. He gets in the back seat, directly behind Agrippa. Marcellus starts the car, and they go around the dispersing crowd onto the main road connecting Area Two and Area One.

"Oh dear. What a mess...sigh*…" William murmurs. Craven, who William forgot was in the car, looks at him.

"You aren't kidding!" Craven grunts, as the vehicle starts speeding toward the Area One justice building.

* * *

"Alright, so, right now, there are three riots of particular concern. The first has seized the train station in Area Three, the second, the train station in Area Five, and the third, the Management Building in Area Seven," Marcellus says, pointing to an electronic projection of a map of District Four in the middle of the room. The small command center in the top of the Justice Building is packed with high ranking peacekeepers, but there are four chairs around a central table to Mayor Craven, Marcellus, William, and Goldtooth, as William is now calling Agrippa. Goldtooth turns his golden eyes on the peacekeeper force in the room, scanning through them, perhaps looking for some hint of disloyalty, then looks back to Marcellus. Before the Marcellus can continue, the mayor interrupts him.

"Now Marcellus, do we have enough men here?"

"We have six hundred peacekeepers to work with right now, and that's it. The riots in District One, Seven, Eight, and Eleven are taking large amounts of the available crackdown resources. In particular, there are no hovercraft for our use due to its necessity in One, Seven, and Eight," Williams smiles and thinks of Finnick's friend Johanna, who was no doubt causing mass chaos with her battle skills, though the image of the forests of Seven engulfed in flame is disturbing to him too.

"District One?" The mayor says, "They are revolting? But their as loyal as…"

"As Four was meant to be…" Goldtooth grunts. He looks back to Marcellus, "We also have the peacekeepers in the District."

"Except that many aren't particularly loyal…" Marcellus says. William crosses his arms grumpily. That lack of trust isn't going to make his job any easier.

"Now, I plan to take a force of about three hundred into Area Four by car and then splitting them into two groups, the first headed to Area Three, and the second, which I will command personally, headed to Area Five. A final force of another hundred to put down the revolt in Area Seven, and the remainder of the troops will spread out across Area One and Two and reinforce key points." Marcellus closes the map and looks to Agrippa, who gives a shiny, blinding, gold toothy smile.

"Excellent. Now, tell this crowd what we learned from our spies." Goldtooth demands, his left canine reflecting light right into William's eye.

"That both riots in Area Three and Five are being led by Victors. Ron Stafford, in Area Three…" Marcellus pauses, then looks at William, who prepares himself for what has to be rather dramatic acting, "And Finnick Odair in Area Five."

"Finnick? How could he?" William yells, jumping to his feet, "I know I raised that boy better than that! Are you sure?"

"Completely. He has betrayed the Capitol and led a rebellion against it." William sighs overly loudly, and taps his cheek.

"Let me talk to him."

"You'll do no such thing. You, the Mayor, and the rest of the district are under orders to remain in your Areas. You are also under curfew!" Goldtooth says. This pushes the Mayor toward the edge.

"I will not have you bossing me around like you own the place, Agrippa! I don't care who you are, I won't be ordered around like a sniveling dog!" While the mayor goes off on Agrippa, William takes the opportunity to go to Marcellus.

"Marcellus, could you please…don't kill Finnick…bring him home in one piece."

"If he does not resist, I will not kill him," Marcellus says coldly. William eyes the new head peacekeeper, trying to show as much frustration as possible.

"I'm willing to cooperate. I'll tell you about the District Four peacekeepers," Marcellus, apparently interested, turns to him.

"What do you know?"

"Marcia, she's not to be trusted. Finnick and her were scheming constantly. Not like Ivota there. No, he is loyal as can be," Marcellus gives the man a hard look, then turns to one his men.

"Arrest Ivota, immediately." The peacekeeper nods and goes to the man, who starts begging and assuring his loyalty. William watches him dragged away, then looks back to Marcellus, a little uneasy about how successful his plan was.

"Be careful ignoring me, Marcellus," William warns. Marcellus looks at him angrily.

"I will, now, please, take your seat again," William nods and goes back to his chair, the Odair blank smile on his face. Marcellus turns to Marcia and waves her over.

"You will be acting lieutenant to Agrippa while I'm gone. Don't make any mistakes, William thinks you're more loyal to Finnick than the Capitol. But that's a lie isn't it?"

"Of course sir," Marcia says, nodding to Marcellus, "I've not the slightest loyalty to Finnick."

"Good, prove it by keeping Agrippa happy and Area One under control."

"No loyalty to Finnick…but to me…well, that's a different question," William whispers to himself as Marcia salutes to the man.

* * *

"They are here already?" Librae says, not as much surprised as disturbed. Jarrok sighs in frustration. Mags also appears perturbed by their arrival, but she don't show too much emotion.

"Yes, the crackdown is here, and clamping down on us already. I don't know if Scipio or Seven's rebellion tipped them off or this was the plan all along, but I'm not sure our plot is going to work if they are already moving into Area One and Two," William says, a look of defeat on his face, "Even with their forces drained—Marcellus said they only have six hundred men from the Capitol for use—they still outnumber any force we have, and much of our army is made up of milita and rebellious peacekeepers, both of whose loyalty is questionable at best." Jarrok shrugs in response.

"It was a long shot anyway William. But we need to consider what to do now that we're backing off," Jarrok says.

"Well, they know Finnick and Ron are leading the rebellion, so we've got to tell them to withdraw, or they will be overwhelmed," William says, "Except, I don't know how to do that. Our new head peacekeeper has restricted travel around the District. Going between Areas within District Four is strictly forbidden until the riots have been controlled."

"I could send another of my birds. They worked pretty well the first time." Librae says. William shakes his head.

"With all these peacekeepers here in Area One, that bird won't make it out of the window. And besides, there is too much I'd have to say to write it in an encrypted message."

"Maybe…" Mags says, tapping her chin, "they would notice a bird or Finnick's father…" Mags stands up slowly and takes Jarrok's arm, "but I wonder what they might say to an old woman and her husband." Librae and William look at the elderly woman and man who smiles, "We're just trying to have a nice vacation and see the sights in Area Three and Five, right dear?" Mags says in a mocking Capitol tone. It's actually pretty good, and William smiles at them.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Jarrok Rinsilier, aren't you glad they removed your name from the victory podium now?"


	16. Part 2: Chapter 4

Chapter Four

More Odesta! But there's something else too...Crestafford? Enjoy! And please, please, please, please, please…review!

* * *

The soft, gentle hands slipped around Finnick's chest, and pulled him back. Soft, tantalizing lips ran up and down his neck, and Finnick's eyes fluttered shut. He turned suddenly and looked at her: with sweet, wonderful smile, beautiful; long, brown hair he felt his fingers moving through; and dazzling in her tight, shimmering blue victory dress in the fading light of that autumn day. She was perfect, Annie, the only thing he could think about at that moment. This wasn't his first time of course; he'd already worked with at least twenty different women since his mother's horrid death, but this was different. When their lips locked, it was like the whole world slipped away, and nothing else mattered. Finnick's lips started on her neck, and she began to whisper.

"Take me Finnick…make me yours…make me feel again…" she said, pushing back onto his bed. Finnick's arms moved up and down her body, feeling her every form and crevice.

"Annie…" Finnick murmured, and when they kissed, he felt himself as a part of her, just an extension of each other's bodies.

_It's just sex. It's the same as the stuff they make you do at the Capitol. It's meaningless. _Finnick heard this in his mind, but it wasn't true. Something was different. Sure, she was half-crazed, probably insane from her games. Sure, he was the only person besides his father she could stand with for more than a few seconds before breaking down. And what was he? A half suicidal idiot who was looking for real feeling just as much as her. They were crazies, and yet…with other, together, everything seemed…different. What was that difference? What was it that what made this special?

"Love!" Finnick yells. He's suddenly awake, in his bedroom at his father's second home in Area Five. His heart is racing and every time he closes his eyes, he sees his first time with Annie. It had been the night when she returned from the games. Her mother and father had tried to be so supportive of her when she returned, but in her games a flock of jabberjays, evil Capitol creations which repeated perfectly human words and sounds, had suggested otherwise, and whether out of context or not, the awful things Annie heard about her uselessness and stupidity made her parents the last people she wanted to spend time with. Looking for some part of her life that hadn't been ruined, she had decided to escape to Finnick's; he was the only person she even marginally knew who she hadn't heard. That night, she and Finnick became more than friends.

Finnick goes out onto his balcony and looks out at the Sea of Mead, which is stunningly beautiful with the sun rising over it. The sky and sea seem to stretch on endlessly, though Finnick knows that on the other end is District Five. He and Annie had tried to run away using a small fishing boat on the sea, and he had a burn scar on his shoulder to prove where a peacekeeper had shot him with some electric device to send him back.

"I love her…I tried to run away with her, I never feel the way I do when I'm with her. I could tell Katniss was faking it. I love her…" Finnick mutters, watching the sunrays and fishing vessels bouncing on the water. Finnick's eyes are draw, however, to a small thing bobbing in the distance. At first it looks like a shadow, but as it gets closer, he can see its some animal, or maybe a person, bouncing up and down in the water. Several boats slow down as they get near it, but all continue past it. He watches it for probably twenty minutes before it disappears behind some rocks. Finnick shrugs and gets into the shower, the hot water reminding him of the task he has ahead. The riots near the Area Five management building are becoming more violent, and Finnick knows that today is his chance to overwhelm the peacekeepers and the administrator at the building. If he can't take it quickly, the crackdown may prevent him from ever doing it. Finnick breaths deeply and tries to get loose as he turns off the shower and puts on a towel. But just as he leaves the bathroom, he hears the front door of the house open and shut. Finnick turns cautiously and listens. Something is moving around the downstairs, and seems a bit frantic. Finnick, suspecting trouble, quietly moves toward the trident next to his bedroom door and takes his weapon from its place. As he tip toes through the home's hallways, he can hear coughing and faint murmuring in the kitchen. He also sees a trail of water from the door going into the kitchen.

"The bobbing thing…it was a person…" Finnick whispers to himself, leaning against the wall separating the hallway and the kitchen. Holding the trident tightly, he steps out into the kitchen to find Mags, searching the home's refrigerator for something.

"Mags! What are you doing here?" Finnick yells. This causes the elderly woman to nearly jump out of her skin, and she falls onto the carpet behind her. Finnick, seeing what he's done, goes down beside her and helps her back up.

"Sorry Mags, I'm so sorry, but you startled me."

"It's my fault…" Mags says weakly, her throat clearly quite dry. Finnick grabs her a cup and fills it with water which she sighs at then drinks.

"Thank you…I should have called to you…" she says.

"No, no, it's my fault. Completely. But what are you doing here Mags? Did you swim here? All the way here?" Finnick says, pulling the old woman into the sitting rom. He can see now that her swimsuit is completely soaked, and he gets a towel for her to put around herself.

"No. Just from Area Four to here. Jarrok and I hitched a ride on a peacekeeper car from Area One. Jarrok went to meet Ron, and I came to you. All travel between the Areas is restricted, at least, for most citizens," Mags says.

"You two came here by peacekeeper car? How?" Mags smiles, and Finnick notices a small smudge of makeup left on her face.

"I just wanted a nice vacation…" Mags says in a Capitol accent which Finnick actually believes for a second. He smiles, then touches her hair.

"Why did you to come all this way to see me personally?"

"To warn you. Thanks to you, your father caught wind of the crackdown force arriving early. But it was very early, as in, a few seconds after the Victory Tour left."

"A few seconds! So they're here already? That's the car you took."

"William is withdrawing all forces and preparing to regroup. We don't have much choice Finnick, there are another one hundred and fifty troops headed toward the management building here." Finnick looks at Mags, then out at the sea, beyond the winds near him.

"So what? Am I supposed to hide out for years? They've already seen me Mags! They've seen Ron too! My father is to cowardly…" Mags hits Finnick with her open palm on his nose. He is stunned for a moment, and Mags is free to speak.

"You father is not a coward. He's worried for the safety of his son. And I am too…" Mags says, running her fingers through his hair. This makes him calm for a moment, and he looks at her.

"Mags…I can't stop I…" Finnick gets up quickly and goes through the kitchen and pulls a small device from his bag. He opens it, and Mags glances at it, then immediately recognizes it.

"They wanted to on the train…you had clients…"

"I didn't want this to raise any concern…but maybe this is why the crackdown…" Finnick mutters. Mags shakes her head.

"Don't blame yourself. We would have made the exact same decisions…this isn't…" Mags tries to put her hand on his shoulder but he turns away.

"But Mags…I can't retreat. If I leave or hide away now, Snow will kill my father, you, Annie, everyone for refusing him so defiantly on this. I…_we_ only have one choice now…"

"What should _we_ do then?" Mags asks. Finnick smiles the Odair blank smile.

"_I'm_ going to rebel on schedule. And that means…I'm going to seize the management building today." Mags stares at him for a moment, then takes his hand.

"Then I guess _we're_ going to seize the management building," she says. She leans in to kiss his forehead, but he moves and gives her a kiss right on her lips. She's a little stunned by this and leans back.

"Do you kiss everyone like that?" Mags says, wiping her mouth.

"Only pretty girls…" Finnick says, eyebrows dancing. Mags puts her head in her hands as Finnick considers how he is going to take the building with about a hundred and fifty more men guarding it.

* * *

"Ron…" Ron turned and saw Annie. She came to him slowly and took his hand. They just stared in each other's eyes for a long time, then he spoke.

"I…love you Annie…" he said. The woman smiled, then their lips met. But just as they touched, the tears started.

"Adrian…" she stuttered.

"No Annie! I'm Ron!" he responded, angrily. The woman drew back, but then pressed her lips onto his. Ron knew it couldn't be, his face made her think of the boy, Adrian, who was beheaded right before her eyes. Of the monstrous things those jabberjays reported, only two people she knew, Finnick and Ron, hadn't been quoted. But Ron's sin was different: most sounded like the nightmare, but he looked like it. His face sent her spiraling back to the games every time she saw him. Whatever love they could have had, the games ended it.

"Ron…you don't deserve to suffer…" she said, clearly fighting tear again.

"You're wrong. You don't deserve to suffer. And that's why we can't be together. I love you Annie. But you…you can't love me…"

Ron awakes from the nightmare feeling sick, murmuring her name. He sits up and rubs his eyes. As his vision comes into focus, he finds Jarrok rummaging through his drawers.

"What the…Jarrok? What? How did…what?" Ron blurts, trying to form a sentence. Jarrok turns around and holds up a shirt.

"Is this too small? Or you think I could find a better color?"

"Why are you digging through my things?" Ron yells, finally getting a sentence out.

"Because I'm soaked. I tell you, just because we swim all the time here, it doesn't prepare you for traveling through the Pacific Sea. I hung onto a fishing net for probably thirty minutes and still had to swim for nearly an hour straight to get to the Area Three shore."

"You swam all the way down here?"

"Oh, no, I swam all the way up from Area Four! I hitched a ride down with Mags, who made a truly convincing Capitol wife," Jarrok says, quite chipper as he pulls out a tight pink shirt, "Whoa!"

"Put that back!" Ron says, getting out of the bed and snatching the shirt away, "How did you possibly swim with your bad arm?"

"I still have one good one," Jarrok says, waving his right hand, "And legs that work just fine, thank you. Now, you're telling me there isn't a single piece of clothing that fits me in the entirety of your father's apartment?" Jarrok says. Ron rolls his eyes, goes to his closet and throws Jarrok a peacekeeper uniform.

"What in heaven's name is this?"

"If you're here, you're going to help me, whether you want to or not."

"But…my arm…"

"You still have one good one. Plus your legs. They got you all the way here…" Jarrok bites his lips, then goes to the man and talks quietly.

"Ahem, so…I may have swam all the way down here to tell you to retreat."

"Retreat? Why? The crowds ready to burst. This is the moment to seize the Area Three management building."

"Maybe, but…well…a large peacekeeper army has reinforced the existing one. That was how Mags and I hitched a ride down here. And William has called off revolt as our plan has been outdone."

"Why?" Ron says.

"Well, I suppose Scipio told on us, or maybe the Capitol just thought District Four needed to be dealt with quickly."

"No, not why the keepers came early. Why do we need to call off the plan?"

"What are you implying?"

"Finnick won't quit. Not even Mags could convince him to stop now. Put on the uniform. We're doing this; we just have to…adjust a bit," Ron starts toward the shower, "I'm doing this for you Annie, so that you and Finnick can live free."

* * *

Finnick drops behind a shipping crate as a large force of peacekeepers come through the Area Five wharf.

"Pay attention! No ships are to leave this wharf under any circumstance until the new head peacekeeper gives a report on the defeat of the rebels," the nearby ship captains and crew, who were working on launching their vessels, stop and start mumbling angrily to each other. One, who Finnicks sees is a grey haired, balding man, has enough guts to speak up.

"Why do I have to stop my job just because a couple of rich folks of the district decided they was tired of the Hunger Games?" The man says, crossing his arms. Finnick rolls his eyes at the man, then looks again to the see the peacekeepers getting a little agitated.

"We are under strict orders. Anyone who resists is subject to the use of force," the peacekeeper says, turning his automatic rifle toward the captain, who curses and waves the man away. The peacekeeper turns the weapon back to his side and looks out in the crowd.

"We are also delivering a reward for any information on the whereabouts or motives of Finnick Odair. If you see something, please step forward and make yourself known." None of the captains move. Finnick, seeing his opportunity, draws his trident and jumps onto the crate he was hiding behind.

"Hey!" He yells, causing just about everyone in the wharf to look at him, "What's the reward worth? I'm not cheap, those girls in the Capitol know that…" The peacekeepers, who Finnick sees are about eight strong, point their weapons at him.

"Quick, get him!" Finnick flings his trident and hits two of the men. The remaining six hold their guns to him.

"What are you going to do now Odair? I don't see another trident on you," the lead peacekeeper says. Finnick smiles then holds out his hand.

"Let's hope Ron's glove works." He whispers. Finnick jerks his hand back, and as if magic, the trident, which was lodged in one of the peacekeepers, rips from his body and twirls back into Finnick's hand.

"Oh, that's awesome!" He says. The lead peacekeeper, seeing Finnick rearmed, points.

"Shoot him!" He yells. Finnick jumps back and lands squarely behind the box. He runs hunched over and sits behind a stack of crabs from an early morning haul. Finnick stands and flings his trident at an incoming peacekeeper, then summons it back to him. The other peacekeepers aren't so brave, and they take positions behind boxes and shoot at the man. He rolls forward and knocks over a stack of crates, which break to spill oysters and make to floor quite wet.

"Come and get me!" Finnick says, jumping from the wharf dock onto a boat deck. The peacekeepers move to follow him, but they slip over the mess made by the oysters. Finnick skews two more before the peacekeepers recover and fall back. Finnick jumps back onto the wharf, and rushes to where the remaining two men are, holding their weapons at Finnick.

"Come on…ready to fight?" Finnick says, a smile growing on his face. He is ready to fling his weapon when a harpoon goes straight through one of the peacekeepers. The other turns but the angry captain who was told not to leave bears down on him with a homemade fishing spear, stabbing the man several times in the neck with the weapon. The captain, panting, drops the tool to the ground. The peacekeeper falls in a defeated heap, his once grey uniform turned dark red from blood.

"Thanks…" Finnick says, smiling. He turns and notices there was another peacekeeper, who jumps to his feet and drops his weapon. Finnick smiles and grabs him roughly. "Listen to me very closely, tell your bosses back in the management building that we're establishing a base in the wharf. Hurry. I'm going to fling my trident at you in ten seconds. Let's hope you're out of range…one, two…" the peacekeeper starts running away fearfully. Finnick watches him go, then turns to the ship captains and crews who were now gathered behind him. He puts his trident on the ground and tries to look as dramatic as possible as he speaks to the group, "You know, I haven't any right to ask for anyone here's help. But if you have any loyalty, to me, to my father, or District Four, and want to see her freed from the tyranny of the Capitol, launch you boat and follow me." The captain who killed the peacekeeper grabs his spear and points to the boats.

"Tell us where to go son."

* * *

Ron and Jarrok, both wearing peacekeeper uniforms, move carefully to the main docks of Area Three. The guards, who barely paid attention in general, don't give a second glance as what appears to be two peacekeepers race toward a shrimp barge. Two other peacekeepers are already standing near the ship, and they salute to Ron when he takes off his helmet.

"Explain this to me again, Ron…" Jarrok says, as they sneakily extend the gangway to the ship.

"Well, I thought about it, and you're right, we're not going to be able to take the management building because of all those reinforcements. So what we're going to do instead is bring down the management building, with most of the peacekeepers in it."

"And we're stealing a shrimp hauler because? The management building in Area Three is not only inland, but nearly twenty yards from the nearest body of water."

"We're going to pack this thing with explosives, and drive it upstream, and inland a bit, then I'm going to blow the ship."

"Like the fire ships of old…" Jarrok says, mulling. Ron looks at him, then starts the engine of the ship.

"The only problem is…we're fishermen. We don't exactly have a lot of explosives. So we've got to make something up."

"Like what?" Ron smiles, then looks to Jarrok, "You know all those mine explosions they have in District Twelve? Well, I think its about time someone from the Capitol suffered from one of those…don't you?" Ron asks as he takes two hammers from a bag and puts it in the hands of the lieutenants.

"Take these, and start pound coal in the front storage area. Pound as much as you can, as quick as you can," Ron says, "leave your uniforms. One spark and that coal dust, and you, will go up in flame." The men salute, then strip of their clothes and hurry down to the lower levels. Ron turns to Jarrok and holds out a small dark blue sphere with a large ST on it.

"When you get close to the building, press this button. It's my personal explosive device. Don't press it before you're ready, and when you press it, you have exactly twenty seconds," Ron puts the sphere into Jarrok's hand

"And what will you be doing?"

"I've got to make sure as many peacekeepers are at the District Three Management building as possible." Ron says, holding out his hand and after a moment, a batton flies into his hand. The batton also has ST on it to, and when he presses the button on it, it extends into a trident.

"That's…really quite amazing…" Jarrok says.

"You taught me well…" Ron says. He looks the man over, then hugs him tightly.

"Good luck."

"You too. Now, you never exactly explained how I'm supposed to pilot this barge up a creek and into a building."

"That's where your piloting skills come in. You were a boat driver before you became a food connoisseur, right?"

"Thirty some years ago maybe, but…" Jarrok mutters. Ron flashes a smile, and then goes to the edge of the boat.

"Stay safe Ron. I'm not going to be the one to tell your father you've been killed."

"Don't worry, you won't have too!" Ron jumps from the barge and into the water. He comes up next to the guards of the dock and slams his trident into one of them. The other two pull out nightsticks, but Ron is already running away.

"Come and get me!" he yells. He hears footsteps starting to gather behind him, and smiles widely, "Let's see you do better Finnick…"


	17. Part 2: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Thanks for the reviews everyone! Keep it up!

* * *

A platoon of peacekeepers races through the streets of the area, hurrying frantically toward the wharf, now doubt looking for Finnick and his rebels. He is on the deck of an oyster barge, however, far away from where they are searching for him. The barge he's on is commanded by the captain who attacked the peacekeepers with Finnick earlier in the day.

"When do we strike, Odair?"

"Not yet. Keep the other ships milling around…" Finnick turns his attention to a small cavern on the sea side. There are some people in the water and a few sitting nearby the cave opening, but not the one he's looking for. He spends a good while staring at the spot before a light blinds his eye. He puts down the telescope, and can see the vague outline of an old woman, holding up a small mirror to the light and reflecting toward his boat. He goes to the ship's signal light and directs it toward the sun, and then angles it to reflect toward the old woman. He brings his telescope back to see Mags giving a thumbs up.

"Good work Mags, that means that the townspeople are with us. Now, how about the hotel staff, Aurelian?" Finnick turns his telescope to the Area Five storage tower, however, there isn't any response from the tower to suggest Aurelian was successful. He looks toward the town to the west, where peacekeepers were racing toward a butcher shop.

"Well…they're taking Mags bait. But what about Aurelian…" Finnick turns the telescope back to the tower, but on his way to the top he sees a mass of white. He looks back to the white blob and makes out a squad of peacekeepers, and in the center is Aurelian, hands behind his back, being taken toward the management building.

"Oh no…" Finnick says, dropping the telescope and running to the light.

"What happened? What's wrong?" The captain says, but Finnick is already wildly calling to Mags with the signal light.

"Our cover's blown, we have to go now!" Finnick says, turning the light back to the other ships. He flashes the light in a few times, and then the boats, which looked as though they were going about their respective business, suddenly start toward the management building. Finnick goes to the front of the barge and puts his foot out on the edge dramatically.

"This is it. Today, I defeat the Capitol or die trying…because I'm never going back to being that half-dead slave…" Finnick says, taking out his trident and opening it from its baton form. The captain goes to his deck and comes out with two guns.

"Odair, here!" The man throws Finnick one of the pistols, "I've been saving this for the moment I could take vengeance for my sister in that crackdown eight years ago!" the captain says, cocking the other. Finnick smiles, and puts the weapon in his belt.

"Then we both have some business to take care of don't we?" Finnick remains silent for the rest of the ride, occasionally checking on Mags and her team. She is carried by two rebellious peacekeepers, who are leading the townspeople. They are armed with makeshift spears, tridents, knives, and trade tools, such as butcher cleavers or carpenter's hammers. They look ship shoddy and won't stand a chance against real peacekeepers, but they've swelled Finnick's army, which now included both rebel troops and ship crews, to nearly a two hundred troops. At least, that was the planned number of soldiers, before Aurelian blew his cover.

When the barge pulls up to the beach near the management building, Finnick jumps off the front and dives into the water. He swims toward the beach and soon is racing up the shore, with nearly fifty people: crewmen, captains, and rogue peacekeepers, behind him. They go to the front of the management building, where already the townspeople are moving in and mixing into the gathering crowd. Finnick sneaks into the back, then sends the crews to merge in with the crowd as well. Finnick scoots his way around and finds Mags, who is sitting quietly on a bench near the crowd.

"What's wrong sonny? You look tense…" she asks as though she'd never meet him before. Finnick smiles, then leans into her ear.

"Aurelian got caught…" Finnick whispers, then leans back and looks to the man coming onto the stage set up before the management building. He is tall, orange skinned, with jet black straight hair and the hard, tough eyes, chin, and jaw of a soldier. He is in a white peacekeeper uniform and has a large Capitol eagle on his left arm. The man is brought a microphone, and he begins to lecture to the crowd, occasionally stroking his perfectly formed goatee.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm Marcellus Dorment, the new head peacekeeper of this pathetic district and a true Captiol lawman at heart. Pay attention. This man, a sad, shameful peacekeeper rebel of District Two, will be executed before a crowd of onlookers. Former lieutenant Aurelian Spintok. You are guilty of treason by the laws of the Captiol. How do you plead?" Finnick starts to push his way through the crowd, and can see the badly beaten and bloodied Aurelian standing defiantly. His tattoos on his face are unrecognizable and his piercings are either torn out or pushed in, and bleeding profusely.

"Well, Aurelian?" Marcellus asks. Aurelian closes his eyes as Marcellus cocks a pistol.

"I did it because I love my home…and I have faith in Finnick Odiar! Finnick! Finnick!" Aurelian can only chant his name twice before he gets a bullet in his brain. Finnick pauses, and waits as Marcellus issues a warning.

"You hear that Finnick! I caught wind of your plan, and he gave his life to save yours. But you aren't safe. I have allies all around Odair. I will find you…and you'll be punished if you try to resist," Marcellus says, hilting his pistol. Finnick looks at the man, then turns and see the captain close to him. The captain leans over and points at the man.

"What a monster! We have to free this district! Lead the way Odair…" Finnick looks at the man, then twirls his trident and cuts the man's throat. He spurts blood, then falls to the ground.

"I didn't suspect this new head peacekeeper would be quite this ready for me. But he should have considered that I remember every face I saw the day my mother died…" Finnick takes the pistol the captain gave him and looks it over, finding its trigger mechanism is jammed, which would probably yield a backfire explosion. Finnick makes a mental note of this, then hilts the weapon and drops the trident into the crowd. He holds up his hands and calls out.

"Marcellus, I'm here! Don't hurt anyone else for my sake." Marcellus turns and smiles, and two peacekeepers grab him roughly and drag him onto the stage.

"Well, well, this is a surprise. I suspected some stupid attack plan on the building. Probably with an exploding ship or something," the man says, taking the pistol from Finnick's hilt. The victor gives the blank, Odair smile and looks out at the crowd.

"That's more Ron's style. I look to the people for my support. And if they join me I succeed. If they don't, I fail…"

"You put a lot of trust into people," Marcellus says, holding up Finnick's pistol. He points it at the victor's head.

"More than you do?"

"Much more. People are stupid and selfish. When it comes down to it, nobody is going to throw themselves in the way of a bullet for you!" Marcellus holds up the gun but at that moment, Mags pushes past two peacekeepers and stands in front of Finnick.

"No!" she yells. Marcellus pulls back the weapon in confusion.

"You…who are you?"

"An old friend of Finnick's! You won't touch him! Finnick he's my…the pistol is rigged isn't it?" Mags says this slurred, and it could be anything, but to the best of Finnick's ability, that is what she said. He looks at his old mentor and nods.

"I didn't understand a word you said, old woman." Mags smiles and continues.

"If the pistol is rigged, should we get him to shoot it? One nod for yes, two no…" Finnick nods once, then picks up the woman.

"No Mags! I can't let another victor be killed!" Finnick says. Marcellus looks at the woman in shock, then holds up the pistol again.

"Fine then, I'll kill her first, then drag you in front of your father and execute you personally for him. Any last words, old lady?"

"The Capitol is a monstrosity!" Mags yells, but this clearly doesn't register with any of the peacekeepers, or even Finnick, as he's thrown out his hand and his trident is now twirling through the crowd toward him.

"Hit the deck Mags!" Finnick yells as he does a well-timed backflip and grabs his trident from the air, dispatching three peacekeepers with the move.

"What the…kill them both!" Marcellus says, holding up the pistol. The click of the trigger doesn't result in a shot, which perturbs the head peacekeeper, and he brings the weapon close to him. Finnick turns and smiles.

"Something wrong? Maybe a gift pistol I should have worried more about?" Marcellus looks at Finnick, then tries to throw the weapon away, but it explodes in his face and sends him to the ground. At that moment, Mags pulls herself up and waves to the crowd.

"Help if you can!" she begs as clearly as possible. Captains, crewmen and townspeople jump toward the nearest peacekeepers, drawing bullets and zaps from electrified nightsticks. But the peacekeepers at this event are at most a hundred strong, and they are being overwhelmed by the number of people. Finnick stabs the last two peacekeepers on the stage, then turns to Marcellus, who is standing again and draws an electric nightstick. The thing ends in a point, and seems sharp, which makes it look like a sword then a club.

"I'm going to enjoy shocking you to paralysis, Odair."

"And I'm going to enjoy driving my trident into you. Let's see who has more fun!" Finnick jumps in the air, a move he was much better at as a kid, and slams his trident in the ground. Marcellus rolls out of the way and turns his sword, shocking the trident. Finnick's left hand is filled with pain and goes partially limp, but Ron's magnetic glove keeps the shock from reaching Finnick's right hand.

"Nice try!" Finnick twirls the weapon, catching Marcellus's cheek. He stumbles back, then grabs a helmet from his fallen ally and puts it over his head.

"This is only going to end on way, Odair."

"You're right, I'm going to make sure you leave District Four forever. Whether sideways or upright…well, that's your decision!" Finnick regains feeling in his left hand, and then holds his weapon up, orients his back foot for a quick jump, and stares Marcellus down. The peacekeeper jumps back and draws his own pistol. Finnick jumps forward and knocks the pistol to the side, causing it to fire harmlessly into the management building. Or it seems harmless, until the administrator, the Capitol appointee to manage the Areas within the larger Districts, falls from the window of the building and crashes onto the stage. Marcellus looks at him in frustration, and points his electric nightstick at Finnick.

"That man was a personal appointment by President Snow."

"Well…" Finnick takes his trident and drives it into the man, "Screw Snow." Finnick draws his trident out of the body and flings it at Marcellus. He ducks but it hits another peacekeeper. Marcellus grabs the electric sword and starts toward Finnick with it, but Finnick holds out his hand and brings the trident back to him, which hits Marcellus in the back of the head. It stuns him, and Finnick uses the opportunity to drive the trident forward, which causes the peacekeeper to lose his balance. Marcellus is on the ground, and Finnick gets on top of him.

"Get out of my District!"

"Gladly. I'll need your body to present to Scipio though!" Finnick pauses momentarily as he hears Scipio's name, and Marcellus takes the opportunity to thrust the sword up into Finnick's chest. It shocks the man, who is wet from his earlier swimming and his sweat, causing the man to convulse. Finnick stumbles back and falls onto his back, momentarily paralyzed. Marcellus jumps to his feet, but just before he can get to Finnick, he is tripped and falls onto his knee.

"What in the…" Marcellus flips onto his back to find Mags, stabbing his leg with her walking stick. The bottom has extended to turn into a trident, and it's causing blood to shoot up from Marcellus' leg. She drives it deeper, and he screams painfully. Finnick, motion returning to his body, starts to get up, and sees two large forces of peacekeepers approaching.

"Mags…more men…"

"Not a problem…" Mags says, looking back at Marcellus, "Order a retreat…"

"What?"

"Order a retreat, now!" Mags says as clearly as possible, and drives the trident harder, which burst through the other side of the leg. Marcellus cries out in pain, yelling the word retreat. Mags, draws out her weapon, and rolls him off the stage.

"You heard him…" Finnick, who is mostly recovered now, says into the mic, "We've got at least three hundred more men coming by sea. You better get out, or else." The reinforcing peacekeeper force, which is one hundred and fifty men at most, quickly grabs onto the hobbling Marcellus and starts to load into cars, driving away from the cheering crowd. Finnick takes his trident and comes forward on stage with Mags. They kiss three fingers, then hold them up.

"District Four, Area Five, we are free!" Finnick says at no one in particular, though Finnick knows that everyone can see it.

* * *

"Come and get me!" Ron says, flipping expertly over a peacekeeper and cutting his throat. The peacekeeper falls into a slump, slowing the force of probably twenty soldiers chasing the man. He slides under a cafe table and knocks it over, sending two vacationing Capitol residents to their feet and turns a corner.

"Get down!" Ron yells as the peacekeepers open fire. The Capitol residents are probably killed, but Ron isn't real concerned. He goes down another street between two hotels to find about twenty odd peacekeepers coming. He turns back and sees the other peacekeepers coming up behind him.

"Oh, nice try…" Ron goes to one of the windows and jumps through it, landing masterfully on his feet. He stood up to see a Capitol woman in a bed, screaming.

"Well...what do you know…Bella Trinket…" Ron draws his orders from his bag; orders from Snow to sleep with the woman in front of his when she arrived in the District. Ron frowns angrily and holds out his trident, "You had the audacity to request my services in the middle of a rebellion…"

"I…I…" Bella stammers. Ron moves closer, his trident right in her face.

"I'm not going to kill you, because I'm not horrible like the d*mned Capitol. But let me be absolutely clear with you. For the twenty-eight times you've purchased me, never once did I enjoy a moment with you. I hate your hair, I hate your stupid sister who is always all over the television, and I hate you!" Ron turns to see peacekeepers coming into the room.

"I'm never going to serve you again. So I recommend finding a husband who might actually find your horrifying dark green lips attractive!" Ron takes his trident and flings it into the mask of an approaching peacekeeper. The man collapses onto the bed in a bloody mess and sends Bella screaming again. Ron holds out his hand, draws his trident back, and goes through the hotel door and down the hall, feeling marginally better for cursing out and mentally scaring his former client. He bursts out the front door and there is a set of about ten peacekeepers shooing people out of the way. Beyond them is the management building.

"You all are in my way!" Ron yells. Ron takes his trident and twirls it around him, then lets it go. The trident, spinning, flies into the group, but Ron puts his gloved hand out and draws it back, causing the trident to whirl beautifully back into his hand. He holds it dramatically over the group, who starts to back away from him.

"Back off!" he roars. Two peacekeepers start to run, leaving only two standing, who hold up electric swords. Ron flings his trident into one; the man takes the hit and collapses to the ground. The other tries to run at Ron, but the Victor draws his hand back and the trident rips from the body and smacks into the approaching peacekeeper, leaving him senseless. Ron walks calmly past him, weapon in hand, and goes to the front of the management building. He turns around and finds a mass of peacekeepers, at least a hundred, in front of him. There are also men stationed in the management building above him, and beyond the peacekeepers a crowd of people, Capitol visitors and Area Three residents, are gathered.

"Ron Stafford! You are charged with the wounding or killing of twenty-six peacekeepers, and inciting rebellion!" The peacekeeper commander says.

"Yeah, well, when I'm done, I'm going to kill a lot more than that…" Ron murmurs, twirling his trident. However, he knows he's outdone; there are snipers above him, many of those keepers in front of him have automatic weapons, and this commander is clearly not a fool. But he is also familiar.

"Hadrian?" Ron says in confusion.

"Sorry Ron, my loyalties aren't as fluid as some of these keepers…" Hadrian takes off his helmet and reveals his thick facial hair and bald head. Ron knows the man as a gentle and long serving peacekeeper who was a friend of his father and at times watched over a young Ron. He seems less loving now as he draws a pistol.

"Drop the trident and surrender. Please Ron…" Ron hears a heavy sound, then holds out his weapon.

"Hadrian, you need to leave. Don't do this…"

"If I had a choice Ron…I…"

"You do have a choice," Ron says, hearing the sound getting louder. He turns to the nearby creek, but nothing is in the water.

"Ron…" Hadrian moves to the man, and grabs his arm as peacekeepers take positions around the management building. Hadrian starts to take him away when the sound is suddenly screaming in everyone's ears. To the west of the management building, opposite the creek, is a hill, and which wildlife is running down. At the top a shiny metal tip is visible, then the barge comes over the crest of the hill, and turns down toward the building.

"Hadrian, run!" Ron says. Most of the peacekeepers are either running or taking positions to somehow stop the boat. The front doors of the management building bursts open and the administrator of Area Three runs out, along with other administrators. Ron starts to run with them, then veers off and goes to the edge of the building. Suddenly, a man in a blue suit jumps off the ship, and rolls down the hill too. He stops just before Ron.

"Alright, ten seconds!" Jarrok yells. He starts to move quickly past Ron, who grabs him.

"I said twenty seconds!" Ron grunts. Jarrok looks at him in confusion, then back at the boat, which crashes violently, but uneventfully into the building. It tears open a hole in the side of the structure, but doesn't actually threaten its stability.

"My idea was to scare the administrator into surrender, not destroy the building!"

"You should have made that clear!"

"Get out of here you two!" Hadrian runs over with two peacekeepers and points them toward the town. All five start to run when the ship, and the building, explode in a burst of light and sound. Concrete from the building is flung high into the air and crashes into the town. Luckily for Ron, it doesn't hit the people, who have mostly fled the area, but it does take out a number of peacekeepers. The rocks smash into the houses and shops near Ron, Jarrok, Hadrian, and his men though, and Ron pulls them toward a cellar.

"Quick! He screams, pushing the group into a basement. He stops just before he goes in and holds out his hand. His trident whizzes toward him and he grabs it just as a hunk of rock crashes into the cellar door.


End file.
